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English Pages 328 [167] Year 1997
Table of contents :
Introduction
Chapter 11
Chapter 15
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 32
The Book
of
Translation
and
Job
Commentary
Robert D. Sacks St. John's
College, Santa Fe
INTRODUCTION
We selves
Western tradition have the
of the
heir to two
ways of thought.
has formed of our est
contemplations.
deepest
and our
They
within which we
Science
versus
perhaps
less prejudicially,
Greek
Any
Religion,
Philosophy they
live,
of
clarity
Bible, it
our
different
and
is
of
often spoken of as
versus
may call it the Hebrew Bible.
both
our
deep
they have given rise to that beyond which we constantly strive the problem of
Faith. More
question
fundamentally, and of Athens and Jerusalem,
between these two
roots of our civili
virtue of the ways
that
fact
can
be
of thought.
eventually led me to the Book of Job since, of be most in contact with those problems
seemed to me to
rise to Greek
The language agree.
we
Reason
considerations as these
which gave
finding
quite
such
before they met is doubly complicated by be caught addressing the same question in they
compared with tme
the books
hence to two
were
that rarely can
Such
or of
and the
As
attempt to understand the relation
zation as
and the curse of
and
are, then, the foundation
prejudices.
to peer. The problem to which I refer
or
life
Although they sit uneasily together, the struggle between them the life behind the growth of both our daily language and
horizon
particular
blessing
ways of
much of
highest
insights
different
quite
philosophy.
text is strange and
of the
In the notes, I have
picked
difficult,
what seem
and
translators often dis
to me the three most reliable
translations that I have read, and wherever I have felt it necessary to differ
greatly from my predecessors, I have tried to give the arguments in favor of translation, insofar as I was able to reconstruct them, in order that the
each
reader might
have
have
some
basis for
forming
his
own
made reference to certain other translations
The translations I have dard Version (RSV),
Society
(JPS).'
The balance
and
I have
readers who cannot
made most use of are:
Moshe
also
interpretation, Winter
bring
King
out points of
interest.
James (KJ), Revised Stan
Greenberg's, issued by The Jewish Publication
tried to make the notes intelligible even to those
follow the Hebrew they
of this translation and
to
conclusions, and at times I
commentary
contain.
will appear
1997, Vol. 24, No. 2
in Interpretation.
Interpretation
136 I
like to
should also
tion and Mr. and
than
more
Thanks
Antony
as well
thank
both Mr. Hillail Fradkin
Sullavan
of
of
Bradley Founda for having put beans
The
The Earhart Foundation
was scratching out this my table while I put up with me to Eve Adler and those in Vermont who
volume.
beans
on
while
I
eating those beans.
was
Note The Book of Job, trans. Moshe Greenberg (Phila delphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1980); The Book of Job, Robert trans. Stephen Mitchell (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1987); 1. The
are:
references
Gordis, The Book of Job: Commentary, New Translation, and Special Study (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1978); and Saadia on Job, trans. L. E. Goodman (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988).
CHAPTER ONE
1 A
there was from the land of Uz and his name was
man'
simple3
2 He had
evil.
('ish),
man
straightforward
and
away from
GOD-FEARING4
three
daughters.5
head
thousand sheep, three thousand camels, ten thousand
3 He
4 His
the East.
different day,
and send word to
5 Now
them.6
with
when
to them to sanctify
word
to
sons used
of cattle,
five hun
richest man
each one on a
their three sisters to come and eat and drink
days
the
feasts in their homes,
make
was a
turned
owned seven
dred she asses and was the head of a very large estate. He was the
( 'ish) in
He
who
man
a
seven sons and
Job.2
of
themselves.
feasting
had
full
gone
circle,7
Job
sent
up early in the Job for of his children; Thus did Job GOD in their
He himself
would
get
"Perhaps,"
morning to
"my
said
of
all
children
his
days.9
before THE 7
burnt
make
have sinned,
6 One
LORD,"
"Well,"
said
day
Satan to THE LORD,
for
a
man14
my
the
('ish),
hearts."
cursed8
Sons
Satan12
the
of
GOD
came
to
themselves10
present
a
no one
answered
around
said
like him
GOD-FEARING
9 Then the Satan
came
"wandering
8 Then THE LORD
Job. There is
ward man
and
each
along with them. THE LORD to the Satan "where have you and
the
walk."13
for
offerings
Earth, just
Earth. He is
"Oh,"
said
went
to the Satan "Did on
been?"
you
down
there to go
happen to
notice
a simple and straightfor evil."
away from "What, do you think that
man and one who turns
THE LORD
and said:
nothing? 10 Haven't you been protecting him and his everything that he has. You have blessed all his labors, and every thing he owns is spreading out all over the land. 11 But just reach out your hand to take it away and he will curse you to your face for
Job FEARS GOD for
house,
and
sure."
12 "Well
right,"
all
just don't hurt LORD.
said him."
THE LORD, "all that he has is in
Then the Satan
went
out
from the
your
hands now; of THE
presence
137
The Book of Job 13 One
day,
in the house
of
his
when
sons and
their oldest
his daughters
brother, 14
were
and
eating
Job
a messenger came to
drinking and
wine
said; "The
them, 15
when the plowing grazing Sabeans attacked, taking them all and putting the boys to the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell 16 While he was still talking, another one came in
and the asses were
oxen were
alongside
thee."
and
said, "The fire
and
devoured them;
still
talking,
companies,
of
GOD fell from heaven. It burnt the sheep and shepherds I alone have escaped to tell 17 While he was thee."
and
down
the sword; and I alone another one came
drinking
in
down
on the
have
and
and said:
thee."
escaped to tell
said; "Your sons of
They
people.
daughters
brother, 19
sent out three
I
and
was yet were
talking,
eating
and
wind"
when a
the four corners
dead,
are
18 While he
and your
their oldest
wilderness and struck
young
"The Chaldean
the camels, carried them off and put the boys to
on
in the house
wine
in from the
came
in
yet another one came
poured
of
have
alone
mighty
fell
the house. It escaped
to tell
thee."
20 Then Job
up and tore his cloak, shaved his head, and fell to the 21 He said; "Naked I came out of my mother's belly THE LORD gives, and THE LORD takes; return
rose
ground and worshiped.
there.'6
and naked
I
blessed be
the name of THE
shall
sinned or even charged
GOD
LORD."
with
22 But throughout
that Job never
all
folly.
Comments
1
.
fact,
We
must remember
four
there are
translated
by
the English word
and perhaps should so
that the whole story begins with the word A
only because
"man."
is
another word, "hero,"
more
One,
have been translated
there
properly translated as
man.
In
the text which might all roughly be
words used throughout
gebher, speaks of man in his might, "hero."
as
closely
I have
though our word
is
from
refrained
to
related
it,
doing
gibbor, which
well on
is
the way. This
be especially tme here, since the form gibbor never actually (gebher). the Book of Job I have used the form
appears
might
in
"man"
Another
is enosh of which I will have more to say in in all his frailty. I have translated it as
later
a
word
note.
It
"mortal."
speaks of man
The third word, 'adam, tends to be sense, and at times I have translated it
however, I have
mally,
Our
word
'ish is
used
the form
used
by
our author
"mankind,"
or as
as
"man"
of unknown origin.
Some think that it "weak."
"man."
is
an
'ish,
hero,
man."
Nor
comes
It is the
can raise to
times be no more than an enosh, but
from
a root
common word
the state of the
finally
and
fully, he
a man.
2. There sounds
and at
a more generic
('adam).
meaning "to be strong"; others take it to mean The Book of Job is about a man who for gibbor, a
in
"some
once was a man
like the
beginning
from of
the
some
land of Uz, wonderful
and
fairy
his
name was
tale, full
Job. It
of noble
all
and
138
Interpretation
wealthy men from the mysterious Land word for can also mean "east"
East. In the Hebrew language the
of the
up the dream
"ancient,"
and conjures
of a child's
notion of wisdom and valor.
Chapters 1, 2, and 42 differs markedly from that found in the central part of the book. Reading it is like turning from Dick and Jane to Shakespeare, and I have tried to reflect that difference in the translation. Most The language
believe that it
scholars
is
not clear
hand,
The
was written
by
another
more can
be
its
said of
hand,
and perhaps
literary
repetition, gives it a kind
other
effect.
the text, both with regard to
childlike nature of
it was; but it
historical knowledge. On the
to what extent one can have such
little
a
of
its diction
and to
the use
feeling, especially reality felt in the rest of the text. The banter between God and Satan only adds to this feeling. It is almost the classic comic situation in which bad things happen to good people and in the end everybody lives more than of
when contrasted
of never-never
with the stark
happily
ever after.
Whether it
trials;
folk tale
was an old
later thinker felt
or whether a
or even whether
it
introduce his work,
which the author used to
for
a need
some
himself
was the author
kind
of comic relief after such
who saw the
last
chapter as the
is something we shall probably never know. In the course of these notes, however, I shall try to show that Job's final acceptance of the comic is part of the most serious intent of the book. true culmination,
3. The
word tarn
4. The
lated
FEAR. Pahad
as
we
to our understanding
or
6. The
because they
next
thing
we see
"feasting"
served, the
comes
fact that
of
for the divine,
respect
is
have
always
word
"to
invited We
had
parties.
and
would seem
it
wealth.
lose the
7. The Hebrew
they
not
the
makes
wrong
day
it
if
but it is
do
year.
of
granted
note
these
From every
imply
notice of
that
word
wine was were
they
to
days
the fact that
that
they they have no
point, and in
so at this
did. See the
holidays, but simply full "blessed,"
Literally
of us to
we
clear that while
marked a special time of the
sense religious
8.
It is
spirit of
Although the
implies that
to
know,
to them.
as part of the charm of the
story that the sisters are invited and barely take any never host the parties themselves. We take it for independent
ring
a magic
drink,"
all take
of some perfection
unbalanced, I do not
family
a round of
the sisters were
have trans
as
are odd and somehow
from the
we
"fear."
wholesome and goodnatured affairs.
would
the Book of Job. For an
31:40.
daughters: Whether it is because
numbers seven and three
for
imply
have left
sons and three
felt in them,
used
central
plays see the note to
word yirah, which can
5. Seven
but the
is it
account of the role
fact
we
42:15, however.
were ample and
indication, they
were
full,
in
no
human goodnaturedness.
used euphemistically.
9. Job trusts his children, but only partly trusts goodnaturedness. He seems to have full trust in their actions, but supposes that no one is in full control of the thoughts that can flit into and out of a human mind.
139
The Book of Job 10. Mitchell's "came to While the
encounter.
keeps
in
us
does
verb
11. Here follows
list
a
imply
to capture the
a certain
friendly
amount of
God,
of the names of
the places
and
fails
still
they
the words we
have
used
to
occur:
YAHOVAH
THE LORD
elohim
GOD
1:6-2:7, 38:1-42:11 1:6-2:10, 5:8, 28:23, 34:9, 38:7
el
God
3:3-40:1
shaddai
The
adonai
The Lord
5:17-40:2
Almighty
For the moment,
the
nature of
formality, it
the party mood of verses 4 and 5.
mind of
translate them,
testify"
28:28 discussion to the first two
we shall restrict our
chapters.
LORD"
"THE
is, in the main, the one in whose presence the meeting oc curred (1:6, 2:1, 2:7) or the one speaking or directly spoken to (1:7, 1:8, 1:9, 1:12, 2:2, 2:3, 2:4, 2:6). There is, however, one important exception to this rule: 1:22
THE LORD gives,
and
THE LORD takes; blessed be the
name of
THE
LORD. "GOD,"
The
on
word
expression
"Sons He
1:1
hand,
the other
consistently
insofar
except
GOD"
of
refers
was a simple and straightforward man, a
away from evil. Then THE LORD said to
as
it is
to man's awareness
GOD-fearing
used of
in the
God.
man who
turned
2:3
Job. There is man,
1:5
no one
GOD-fearing
a
He himself each of
One
1:6
would get
day
their
of
and the
Satan
One
day
the
Sons
LORD,
and
the
Satan
LORD, 2:1
Then the Satan
1:9
But
2:9
"Curse GOD
2:10
"If
12. The
which
he is
best have
a
begin.
either
look.
GOD
came
to
away from
answered
present
man
evil."
themselves
before THE
them.
with
along GOD came to
came
present
themselves before THE
them.
with
along THE LORD
and said:
"What, do
you
think that
nothing?
Job
never sinned or even charged
GOD
with
folly.
die!"
from GOD,
has been
Clearly
using
my
and
"satan"
where to
notice
up early in the morning to make burnt offerings for Job said, "my children have sinned, and
we accept the good
know
turns
happen to
a simple and straightforward
"Perhaps,"
throughout all that
word
you
Earth. He is
came
of
Job FEARS GOD for 1:22
Satan: "Did
hearts."
Sons
the
on
man and one who
his children; for
GOD in
cursed
the
like him
or
translated
the author
toying
evil?"
must we not also accept
with.
in
has
so
many
some
But there
the
ways that
it's hard to in
mind
of them.
We'd
traditional usage
are so
many
140
Interpretation
The term first
up in the story
comes
Num. 22:21
So Balaam
in
rose
the morning, and
Moab. But God's
with the princes of
went; and the
Num. 22:32
angel of the
would
be best if the
that the angel of
is
a
being
stand
in
ass, and his
on the
activity be easy to
your
reader could reread "Satan."
complicated character.
his
as
two servants
way is
perverse
seems
a
be to
to be an
It
would
that action, because Balaam
is
a
Commentary 200ff.)
pp.
not clear
perform.
(See R. Sacks, A to
struck
me;"
Numbers 21-24, 31. It is
Rather, "being
articulation of
[Lewiston, NY: Mellen, 1990], Here, the angel's job seems
before
satan"
called
full
give a
way
said to him, "Why have you Behold, I have come forth to
the moment that any angel might be required to
not
the
LORD
these three times?
WITHSTAND you, because
It
riding
his
and went
kindled because he
him.
And the your ass
was
his ass,
saddled
anger was
the LORD took
angel of
ADVERSARY. Now he were with
Balaam:
of
on
the
Balaam from
prevent
very Book of Genesis,
doing
a wrongful
act.
In the Book seems to out
of
Samuel,
is
the term
be directed toward
another's
for
used
a man whose original
good, but
intention
whose actions nevertheless
turn
to be otherwise.
ISam. 29:4
But the
commanders of the
Philistines
the commanders of the Philistines said to that
he may
ADVERSARY to his lord? Would it
2Sam. 19:21
Abishai
to the place to
return
down
shall not go
with us us.
For how
not
be
which you
battle, lest in
to
could
the
with
this
heads
him; and back, have assigned him; he
were
angry
him, "Send the battle
fellow
with
the
he become
reconcile
of the men not
said, "What have I to
Zeruiah,
Shimei be
anointed?"
this
day
be
do
with
you, you sons of
an
himself to
here?
Zeruiah answered, "Shall death for this, because he cursed the LORD'S the son of
man
put
to
But David
that you
adversary to me? Shall any one be put to death in Israel this day? For do I not know that I am this day king should
as an
Israel?"
over
In the Book
of
Kings,
who, unbeknownst to
1 Kings
5:4
the term
"Satan"
is
for the leaders of the themselves, become God's way of chastening His But
now the
used
LORD my God has
side; there is neither adversary
nations people:
given me rest on
nor misfortune.
every You know that
David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.
The Book of Job IKings 11:13-25
"However I
will not tear
give one tribe to your son,
for the raised
Jerusalem
sake of
up
away for the
will
David my servant and And the LORD
sake of
I have
which
kingdom; but I
all the
-141
chosen."
adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he house in Edom. but Hadad fled to Egypt.
an
was of the royal
.
And Hadad found
him in
gave
favor in the
great
marriage the sister of
Tahpenes the
And
queen.
sight of
his
Pharaoh,
he
so that
wife, the sister of
own
Tahpenes bore him
the sister of
Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house; and Genubath was in Pharaoh's house among the sons of Pharaoh. But his fathers
Hadad
when
and that
said to
country."
own
Hadad heard in Egypt that David
slept with
Joab the
was
Pharaoh, "Let But Pharaoh
dead, army depart, that I may go to my to him, "What have you lacked
commander of the me
said
country?"
with me that you are now
And he
seeking to to him, "Only let me
go
to your own
go."
God also raised up as an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master Hadadezer king of Zobah. And he gathered men said
him
about
slaughter
there, Israel
Strangely mally
became leader
by David;
and made all the
he
and
and
him
days
abhorred
and
its way
to avoid
went
band, after the Damascus, and dwelt
marauding to
in Damascus. He
king
was an
adversary
of
Solomon, doing mischief as Hadad did; Israel, and reigned over Syria. of
enough, it is only in the Book
goes out of
of a
they
of
Chronicles,
the
book that
nor
anything that tends to appear close to the
mythic, such as the giants, that we see the Satan we know:
IChron. 21:1
Satan
Throughout the Book
Ps.
38:19
Those those
my
Ps.
71:13
Ps. 109:4
stood
up
Psalms,
of
who are
who
against
hate
adversaries
Israel,
the Satan
my foes
and
is
incited David to
the
hated hater
number
who accuses:
without cause are mighty, and
me wrongfully.
Those
because I follow
Israel.
who render me evil
many are for good
are
after good.
May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt. In return for my love they accuse me, even as I make prayer for them.
So they
Appoint
When he is tried, let him He
counted as sin! soak
into his
body
garment which girds
himself!
LORD,
for good,
reward me evil
a wicked man against
he
him; let
come
clothed
May
this
oil
prayer
be
cursing as his coat, may it into his bones! May it be like a with
him, like
be the
hatred for my love. bring him to trial.
forth guilty; let his
himself
like water, like wraps round
and
an accuser
a
belt
with which
reward of
of those who speak evil against
my my life!
accusers .
.
.
he
daily
from
the
But thou, O
142
Interpretation GOD my Lord, deal on my behalf for thy name's sake; because thy steadfast love is good, deliver me! May my accusers be clothed their own shame as in a in wrapped be with dishonor; may they mantle!
In Zecharaia there is the Satan
Zech. 3:1
Then he of the
showed me
LORD,
and
the LORD said to
has
who
chosen
fire?"
Joshua the high
Satan standing
at
Jerusalem
Now Joshua
garments.
And the
standing before the angel hand to accuse him. And
right
rebuke
rebuke you!
cannot cleanse.
priest
his
Satan, "The LORD
the
Is
you,
O Satan! The LORD brand
this a
not
standing before the angel,
was
to those who were
angel said
him."
filthy garments from your iniquity away from
"Remove the have taken
because he
who rebukes
And to I
you, and
plucked
clothed with
from
filthy
standing before him, him he said, "Behold, I
will clothe you with rich
apparel."
Our Satan is
all of
convinced that man coat of
these,
show
face the
himself
a
bitter
of
The
rest
underneath man's
is
mere
founded. Through the
book, Satan hopes
unmediated nature of
he is
them. As we shall see,
being just. Deep
man are not well
throughout the
runs
to
none of
a thick skin of self-interest.
him, God's high hopes for were ever
he is
is radically incapable
decency lies
skin which
and
to
show
the world
show.
imagery
God that if
around
For
him, he
of
man
would
and vicious animal.
We leave Satan because
we
see
a
richer
way, but he never arouses
our
hatred. 13. He
form
verb, which normally means "a walk direct external When the text says ing any of God that He is "going for a in the garden, there is a strong implication that He has not come there intentionally for the purpose of checking up on Adam. In the same way, when God says to Abram, "Walk before me and be He wants to look at Abram's general way of being rather than at any particular goal or accomplishment. Even when He invites him to "Walk through. the land which I shall give He means to enjoy it quietly without a sense of immediate possession. about
uses the reflexive
for its
of the
goal."
own sake without
walk"
perfect,"
you,"
...
Here too, the 14.
15. The
innocence.
a certain
"servant"
or "breath,"
word can mean
16. Job's
perhaps almost
own mother and
into
Adversary is claiming
"slave"
a world
"wind,"
thoughtless
blurring
the great mother earth may
larger than the
"spirit."
or
world of man
be
of
the
seen as a
into
which
grow until
its
roots are
sturdy
first
he
say, the thought is almost thoughtless. We see it as only
it
distinction between his
a
and naive glimpse
was
born. Here
as
I
seed, yet we shall see
enough to crack the strongest
city
wall.
The Book of Job
143
CHAPTER TWO
1 One and
day
the
Satan
the
Sons
said
"Oh,"
go
for
no one
simplicity,
a man
present
themselves before THE
"wandering
been?"
you
Earth, just
around
Earth. He is
on
beguiled1
have
a simple and straightforward man
turns away from
into
me
He is
holding
still
him for
destroying
THE LORD
answered
evil.
went
a
his
nothing.
"Well, 'Skin
and said:
( 'ish)
tight to
skin!'
under2
('ish) has he will give for his life. 5 But just reach out your hand and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face for
his bones
6 "Well
LORD,
to the Satan: "Did you happen to notice my man Job.
said
like him
4 Then the Satan
and get to
to
walk."
man and one who
and you
Everything
them.
a
3 Then THE LORD
GOD-fearing
came
with
Satan to THE LORD,
said the
down there to There is
GOD
along THE LORD to the Satan "where have
"Well,"
2
of
came
sure."
right,"
all
THE LORD, "he is in
said
your
hands now; just don't kill
him."
7 Then the Satan boils from the
with
are still
10 But he good
said to
from GOD, when
as
he
Job
him, they Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamatite. They to come together to console their eyes
voices and cried. ward.
from
afar
Then
13 Seven days
spoke a word
the
never sinned
from his
him
they
in
each tore
his
saw
8
woman.
he took
and
his
Job
wife said
a
to
die!"
and
If
we accept
the
evil?"
speech.
had
come upon
Temanite,4
Bildad the
of all the evils that
him
hardly
compassion.
12 But
when
they
him.
They lifted up their threw dust over his head heaven
recognize
robe and
that
and
and struck
conferred with one another and planned
and to show could
head,3
Curse GOD
Eliphaz the
own place
and seven nights
because they
his
talk like a worthless
Job's three friends had heard
came each
raised5
crown of
tight to your simplicity.
her, "You
all that
THE LORD
in the ashes, 9
sat
must we not also accept
But throughout
11 Now
holding
presence of
his foot to the
himself
potsherd and scratched
him, "You
from the
went out sole of
sat with
him
on the ground and no one
his suffering
was
very
they
great.6
Comments
1. The root
root
Satan
like, but is
sounds
not
etymologically
connected to the
Saltan.
2. Be'ad The Hebrew phrase
"to look
Judg. 5:28
word means
out through a
Out
"away
from"
or
"out
hoofbeats
"Why of
his
as
in the
lattice."
of the window she peered, the mother of
the lattice:
through,"
is his
chariot so
long
in
Sisera
coming?
gazed through
Why tany
chariots?"
the
144
Interpretation "under,"
"beyond,"
It
and
can also mean
No
know
one seems to
in furs
Hebrew
what the
the
on
hides,
and
assumption
it is
although
it may have I have taken the Satan to mean that
the expression or how
God-fearing
of a
In light
book,
body
of the
of at
least this
one can
his
is sorely
one
phrase as
interesting
flesh,"
"Naked I
but
among
meant
by
situation.
on self-interest only.
imagery
tempted to
of skin gains throughout
believe that its
of course, that
but,
may have been
Job may have the superficial look has been scratched one will find an
based
to note that Satan
attacked
came out of
Adversary implied in inner thicker
an
well,
current
while
surface
one
Most have trans
is
not
author was
the
kind
of
the main
the author
thing
that
know.
3. It is and
man, once that
importance that the
of the
to this
applied
layer behind it
other protective
not clear what
"on behalf
or
place
expression means.
that it was a saying
skin,"
lated "Skin for traders
hence "in
5 that Job
in fact try to "get to his bones his being. Job had said
surface of
I
there."
shall return
was not as naked as
is
now out
he
pretended
to prove
The
but had
it.
"Yemen."
word will
6. So far
verse
not
and naked
coat of self-protection and
4. In English,
5. This
belly
mother's
my
did
Job's skin, the
as
be translated
one
can
"bear"
except as otherwise noted.
as
tell, the
genealogies
of
characters
seem
to be as
follows:
TERACH I
I
Sarah.
.Abraham.
Haran
.Katura
Shua
Lot
Milkah
Nahor-
Bethual
Uz
Buz
_L
1
Isaak-
-Rebekah
Esau
Jakob-
Rachel
Eliphaz
Benjamin
Taman
Na'aman
Eliphaz
Bildad
Laban
Zophar
Leah
Job
Iskah
145
The Book of Job As the
see, the Book
we can
book that tells the tale
most of
the characters
people.
This
then, insofar Job is
book
but one,
Son
of
Israel. It
also presents
as
its
Abraham
of
and the wife
Abraham, Nahor
he had taken
and
after our
had been drawn away from him and to Isaak. Eliphaz is from brother. Esau, All these men, however, come from Terach. Of him we read:
the
line
another nonchosen
Gen. 11:31
Terach took Abram his
but
Terach, grounds,
land
of
the
they
when
common
saw or
felt in
came
to
son and
of those
to go
into the land
Canaan;
of
settled there.
the
was
leaving
be heirs to
...
Haran, they
grandfather,
need of
Canaan, but, because
the men, then, seem to
man
grounds, did
purely human
on
who,
his father's house
and of
going to the Three of
not go all the way.
such a tradition.
The last to join the discussion, Zophar, is of
book,
principal subject matter a
attention of
to that
related
the matter somewhat. This
two nonchosen brothers of
of the
aware of
will not change even when we meet the next
will complicate
descendent
a
being tangentially
as
being tangentially
as
human world, has than the Torah.
descendent
a
all
speaks of a
much wider world
Haran. Bildad is
itself
presents
of the genesis of the
it
although
it
as
Job
involved,
aspect of the
Elihu,
character,
of
either a son or perhaps a grandson
Benjamin.
CHAPTER THREE
1 Then, Job 3
"May
the
opened
day
of
his
spurned'
mouth and
my birth be
lost2
in
it; 5 but let
cloud
dwell
darkness5
consume that night
into the
number of
with no sound of
determined to
lay
4
it
seek
and
the Shadow of
open
warms8
that which
joy in it. 8
dawn open, 10 for it
eyes
from
May
out nor
in
day
be
Death6
which
a
any brightness
radiate
the
Those
who
Leviathan10
closed not the
redeem7
despise the sea9,
will
curse"
doors
and those who are
it. 9 Let its morning stars May it not see the eyelid
none.
of
my
mother's
belly
but hid my
toil.12
11
Why did I not come out of the womb and die, exit the belly and 12 Why were there knees to receive me, and what were those breasts to
perish?13
I
should
I
could
have
have
rebuild ruins
their
day
it of
the
darken. Let it hope for the light, but let there be of
night
that
it, and may a it. 6 Let the murk day terrify May that it not be counted among the days of the year or enter its months. 7 Thus shall that night become hard and sterile
it.
above
answered and said
it that
conceived4.'
was said 'A MAN (GEBHERf has been darkness. May God from on high not upon
his day. 2 Job
oblivion and with
houses
me that
13 Else would I have been at ease and had my quiet. 14 had my rest with kings and counselors of the earth, who for themselves, 15 or with princes who had silver and yet filled sucked?'4
slept and
with gold.
16
Why
was
I
not
like
a stillborn
hidden away
or as a
Interpretation
146
scion that never came
there rest those whose
they do
not even
is free
the slave
20 bitter
of
for it
more than
soul?16
hear the driver's
all15
19 Small
voice.
and
great,
there,
are
and
his lord.
of
Why does
into the light? 17 There the guilty cast off their rage and at ease for power is spent. 18 There prisoners are wholly
He
give
light to those
21 to those
for
who wait
for death
subterranean treasure?
22
has consumed,
toil
whom
when there
whose
is
delight
life to the
or
none? or who reaches
dig
exaltation,
because they have found the grave? 23 or to a man (gebher) whose way has been lost and whom God has hedged about? 24 Sighs do as my bread and my roaring pours out as water. 25 I feared a fear and it came to pass 26 I was not at ease, I was not quiet, I and what I dreaded has come upon and who rejoice
me.17
had
no rest,
came."
but
rage
Comments 1. The Hebrew
word
literally
means
"to
light
make
of,"
and
does
not neces
sarily imply that the object is animate. 2. Throughout we have distinguished between: ne'ebhad
to be
math
to die
lost
gawa'
to perish
"To be is"
lost"
(my
thing
has the double
often
hat is lost, it is
nothing is, and hence (I am lost, I am in a can
best be
Abaddon,
ing
seen
by
it
not where
should
(1) "not being where every be) or (2) of "being where thing"
of
being
out of contact with
strange place where
every other person I should not be). This side
remembering that our word ne'ebhad
the place of oblivion. This
"To
given passage.
any
significance of
ambiguity is
perish,"
on
the other
is
of
things
related to the word
often critical
hand,
or
for
understand
often comes close to
be."
meaning "to vanish, to cease to 3. Others say or was tempted in that direction in order to "male"
"man-child."
"Hero"
may be
a
bit too strong, but I
bring out the great feeling of joy which the word implies must have been felt that day by all the members of Job's family. Such a translation would have better served to bring out the irony of the verse. The very being of a hero lies in his being remembered, but for Job, this day and everything in it is to be forgotten. Mitchell's "night that forced me from the on that
This
womb,"
day
loses
all the poignant contrast
and the secret
horrors it
between
the great
joy
felt
by
all
contained.
sentence will echo and re-echo
as we shall
see, is
can obscure a
throughout the whole. The Book of Job, play between the way in which a lovely surface and the way in which our view of the deeper intent
a constant
darker
center
of things can obscure our view of
their simple surface.
4. Sa'adiah, in his translation into
lates "bom is
a
.
.
Arabic,
with some real
and even cites some parallel
texts.
justification
While there
can
trans
be little
147
The Book of Job
doubt that Job is indeed thinking of the day of his birth, it may be important to retain the fact that he speaks of it in terms of its more hidden causes. 5. Seven times "darkness"
during
There
and others all
human
saying
abandoned
from
should
also
day
have
ever
in hopes that it, his
like
words
had
Job's first
seen.
host
and a
thing
contained a
beginnings,
own
verses we read the words "oblivion"
which no
is
reaction
would shrivel
to let
it be
be
gone
and
up
of
eye,
sight.
6. Salmaweth is and moth,
possibility of abounds. This
speak of
by
Ps.
"an
Unlike English, Hebrew
compound nouns would argue
On the
a place.
word, coming from the two
a compound
"death."
lem
are
if that
the same, as
divine,
or
first ten
the course of these
"night."
hand, it is
other
Einstein."
seeing how the
23:4
for the
is
no evil;
for
not allow
is the
the
where
it
proper name of
became generic, as we better feeling for the prob
possible that the name reader can get a
Book
used outside the
Even though I
I fear
sal,
of proper nouns
case
notion that salmaweth
Perhaps the word
does
grammar
in the
except
"shadow"
roots
Shadow
through the valley of the
walk
for
Job.
of
thou art with me;
thy
rod and
thy
of
Death,
they
staff,
comfort me.
Ps.
44:18
Our heart has
thy
turned
not
and covered us with the
Ps.
Some
107:10
back,
in darkness
sat
God,
Shadow
of
our steps
departed from
and spurned
Death,
Most High. Their hearts
the counsel of the
in
prisoners
the words of were
with
Then they cried them from their distress; he brought of
of
rebelled against
hard labor; they fell down, with none to help. to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered
bowed down
Shadow
jackals,
of
Death.
in the Shadow
and
in irons, for they had
affliction and
the
have
nor
way, that thou shouldst have broken us in the place
Death,
LORD for his
and
them out of
broke their bonds
love, for his
steadfast
darkness
asunder.
Let
and
the
them thank
wonderful works
to the
sons of men!
Isa.
9:1
But there
will
be
no gloom
former time he brought into land way The
of
Naphtali, but in
of the sea, the
dwelt in
a
the latter time
he
in
anguish.
of
Zebulun
was
land
land
in darkness have
of the
Shadow
of
In the
the
of the nations.
light;
seen a great
Death,
the
and
will make glorious
land beyond the Jordan, Galilee
people who walked
who
for her that
contempt the
on them
those
has light
shined.
Jer.
2:6
They from
the
deserts
13:16
not say,
land
and
land that Jer.
did
of
"Where is the LORD
Egypt,
pits, in
a
who
land
of
led
us
who
brought
in the wilderness, in
drought
and
us
a
up land
the Shadow of Death
of
in
dwells?"
none passes
through,
where no man
Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into
gloom and makes
it
the
Shadow
of
a
Interpretation
148
Death. But if your
5:8
He
the
will weep bitterly Lord's flock has been taken
Pleiades
the morning, and
is his
At any rate, if it is a place, it does we know it from verses like: For in death there is
Ps. 6:5
thee
Rather, it
he
which
be
darkens
for
tears,
captive.
day
the
the Shadow of
and turns
Orion,
into night,
who calls
the surface of
name.
not seem
itself
to be identical with Death
no remembrance of
on earth
thee; in Sheol
who can give
Shadow
desolation
of
and
fear
where no
it
as a
land to
he is going
which
and
return,"
"not
Well, I
full
ever near.
at one time will speak of
will
Job 10:21
here
a place
death is
and
Although Job
from
and
secret
with
praise?
seems to
dwells
man
down
and pours them out upon
the waters of the sea,
the earth, the LORD
as
weep in
and run
who made the
Death into for
soul will
pride; my eyes
because Amos
listen, my
you will not
be going soon, going to a land of darkness and the Death and I will not return; to a land that glows in murk,
will
of
Death
the Shadow of
a
and without order
land
whose radiation
is
murk.
At
other
can
times he thinks of
be brought
He
unveils
Shadow
He
Job 28:3
and
7.
yig'alehu:
things
out
into
from the
The Torah was the
of
duty
Gersonides cumstance
duty
of a man would
itself, but it is
everything to its limit, Death.
has
normally is
to
"claim,"
means
to
"redeem"
imply
a place
the
even to this rock of murk
"stain."
King James has frequently appears
but
"to
"redeem."
"redeem"
defile,"
or
God
his kinsman
who
"to
the
"redeemed"
Israel from
has been taken
giving
of the
that in Job's mind there
is
Law
still a place
in the
pollute,"
at
the blood of a murdered kinsman.
captive.
Sinai it
Such
for "the
they
come
far from any human habitation. both meanings are intended and that in fact in this
to the same thing. us.
By finding
At any rate, the
it"
redeem
are
very
a place
curious.
They
are the
for the discarded
words
"let
an
day"
suggests that
itself, darkness defiles it for
darkness
darkness; He leads
another word ga'al, which quite
and which
a
out of the
seems to presuppose that prior to the
interpretation
hidden things that
light.
explores
Shadow
of the word ga'al
meaning Egypt. A man has
and
deep
Death
the Revised Standard
form ga'al,
normal
within
of
[man]
the
Although there is variant
as a place which contains the
into the light.
out
Job 12:22
it
cir
day
salmaweth
first beginnings
of a
thought which will
They imply have been,
darkness, it
a place where
149
throughout the whole of the
book.
early stage, Job dreams of a place, perhaps only in where there is room for the day which should not
that even at this
the gloom and the
itself
transform
grow and
The Book of Job
be itself; but for now, it is merely
can
a
passing is quickly dropped. 8. It would be hard to find many works of which the Italian expression traduttore tratore is more tme than the Book of Job. It is obscure both in word thought and
and
in
grammatical
whole of the
form.
Many
words
kimmerire
The
appear
once
and
never again
in the
literature.
word
could come
"bitter,"
from the
root mrr or
but
that
is
grammatically unlikely. The more likely root is kmr which can mean either "to or "to Usually it is taken in the former sense, like a cloud or
blacken"
warm."
But
an eclipse.
since
Job is thinking of those and dead tree stumps. "day,"
9. Or
10. The mentioned
but the
Leviathan, in three
fear
men
many
connection with the will
Isa.
27:1
And
on that
74:14
You
crushed the
people of
Ps.
day
toward the
Leviathan,
develop feelings The
question
to
whom you
at
least if
we are
"lay
man can
of quite a
I
would
different
.
day by
one
open and under which
like to
suggest that the
Not the
in
order
same word as
12. Mitchell's "from this Job
the
should
made
has been
it is
as
food to
the
go the ships; and
to play with.
God is
not the
stripped
have been.
bad
child
not yet clear whether we are to
Leviathan"
or whether we might not
hand
God
of
and
tigers,
so that on that
day
and
the
do they have a certain beauty of frightful beauty, and yet one to which
man? or
a
he first leams to be
Book
of
Job is
to discover
found in
verse
man?
an account of a man's attempt
under which welkin
1
justice lies.
.
sorrow,"
sees the world at this point.
which
it
sort.
truly become a world for apart from all human need,
to face this ambivalence
11
gave
is: Are the frightful things in nature, "the lions
be destroyed
be
have
to assume that
open the
world might
their own
the Leviathan.
beasts. There
small and great
and so at this point
admire those who would
bears,"
shall punish
the Leviathan and
of
see, there is a certain ambivalence within the biblical tradition
breaks his toys,
who
Lord
the
head
Leviathan
there goes the
we can
likely.
described in Chapter 40, is
the great and wide sea, wherein are creeping things
innumerable, both
As
more
makes
island.
the
So is this
104:25
fully
more
under rocks
"sea"
Leviathan
that
in the Bible:
other passages
Ps.
be
likely
would seem more
that fear the sunlight and crawl
creatures
which
it
these things
loses
The
away for Job,
the all-pervasive character of toil as
world
is full
and now
he
of
must
blind Promethean hope
lead
a
life
which never
150
Interpretation
13. In we see
way, the changes, or we
a certain
take place in Job throughout the book
"Naked I
1:21
of
Job
3:9
it
belly
did You
Why
The womb,
one
to be lived
To the
dutifully
in time full
Small
Job 3:19
Insofar more
as
it
eyes
belly
exit the
me out of
from toil.
name
the
belly
Job, life is
comic
and then
To be is
be
not to
was the source of
as
to the grave.
gift,
with
death,
almost a
and not to
as
flight
if nothing
of
fancy,
nothingness
yet
is
be is to be. Life is
a
an
distinctions.
there,
all are
great,
be,
not come
as though
left. To the troubled Job,
of meaningless
and
a
Why
did I
Had I only perished I had not been,
womb?
to see me. I would
the gates
closed not
and perish?
place, seems almost contiguous
comfortable nothingness. aberration
dawn open, for it
I had been led from the
a quiet
ness were the norm.
shall return
THE LORD takes; blessed be the
die,
bring
without ever an eye
though
I
mother's
and
but hid my
out of the womb and
Job 10:18
and naked
my
the eyelid of
not see
mother's
my
belly
is:
set of musings
LORD."
THE
May of
came out of
THE LORD gives,
there.
are
belly. The first
and those of others on the womb and the
Job
that say the education, musings reflected in his own
might even
his
and the slave
own generative
is free
of
his lord.
power, it meant nothing
to him than the source of hatred and contention:
Job 19:17
My I
Job 24:20
breath is
repulsive to
my wife,
and to the sons of
my
belly
own
loathsome.
am
The
The others, too,
forget him
womb will
except
for Bildad,
and the worms will
saw
find him
nothing there but empty
sweet.
rage.
Eliphaz Job 15:1
Then Eliphaz the Temanite even answer such
blustery
answered and said:
fill his
thoughts and
Should
own
belly
a wise man with
the
east
wind?
Job 15:35
Their
Job 20:20
Since he knew
belly brews
deceit. Zophar
escape; there
will
no peace
be
from his belly, nothing dear to him shall enjoy it and thus nothing of his
no survivor to
merit shall endure.
Job 20:23
As he is upon
him
about to
and rain
fill his belly, God
down
upon
him
will send out
even
to his very
His
burning
bowels.
Elihu Job 32:18
I
am
full
of
words, and the
wind
in my
belly
presses upon me.
anger
The Book of Job In Job's
The
way.
recollections and musings on the
Job 31:15
Did
not
Did He
Job 31:18
By
beginning
womb was the
He
From my
the end of the
in the
us
mother's
book,
however,
things
in my
mother's
belly
belly
I
the womb or
stranger, and more violent, but
at
had
it is
awe of
But
at all times
him
make
as well?
same womb? was their mother's guide.
belly has
become for Job
for the reader, that mighty, turbulent, and often ferocious source there has emerged a world full of life and living creatures, a ever seen.
that
were not
of all that was warm and near:
who made me
form
not
past,
-151
times
out of which
larger,
world
tender, than any
more
curiously
and perhaps
breathtakingly beautiful,
man
and we stand
in
frost
of
that which does not know us.
Job 38:29
From
what
does ice emerge,
belly
birth
and who gave
to the
heaven? Job 40:15
But look now, here is Behemoth eats
might
14. Mitchell's
fails
to capture
the great lie of
is in
X."
For Job,
himself, in
daily
too
his belly.
his
In these
cling to life
allowing himself
by
breast.
mother's
more
act was to
is
"all"
warned about the use of the word
likely
X"
to use "men are
cases we
have
light,
innate
where
decided to
often
English
in this
would use
go with the normal
usage.
16. Man has unjust.
along with you. He in his loins. His
made
alive?"
general the reader
men are
English
I
the strength
there
were
false hope. His first
translation. Hebrew is
"all
the muscles of
at
knees to hold me, breasts to keep me the fact that Job is blaming himself for his own participation in
"why
to be attracted to
15. In
whom
fodder just like the cattle, but look
and yet events.
a certain
no
man
it is in
Would
much sense
can
an
sense
ignore that light
of what
as
long
is just
as
and
God
constant opposition to the manifest will of
we not
be better
off without that
to make no sense, and yet
it
what
he finds it
light? The
makes no sense.
is
within as seen
world makes
If Job had
no
reason, the world would no longer look unreasonable, and he could sleep more soundly.
17. Here Job
birth
seems to admit that
was not total and absolute.
the surface of the world
made
Even
the
beguiling
character of the
when things were
sense
to
him, he
was
going
uneasy.
looked too Hollywoodan to him. Good things happened to bad things happened to bad ease.
Seeing
no reason
known that if there he
and
God
people so
far
for perfection, he
were no reason
would come
to blows.
as
he
was
behind it, it
could
well
tell,
distrustful. He could not
last,
of
Perhaps it
good yet
day
for him
he
his and all
people, and was not at
seemed to
have
and that one
day
152
Interpretation
These thoughts had
fear. Job's
of unarticulated
to Job not in the form of thought, but in the
come
discontent arises,
present
it
sudden realization that the surface of the world as
harmony
out of
tion? Job had always
importance
day
come
formed
by
felt, felt in
the
form
fear,
of
of the simple world of appearance as
into
lay
the wisdom of the ages. But how
with
his understanding the fathers handed down from
the wisdom of
that realiza
commitment
before
lay
the
before him has fallen
his
of that
conflict with
it, from
sees
sudden was
that
it
he
as
form
to the
man would one
as
world
it had been
the ages.
CHAPTER FOUR
1 Then Eliphaz be
disciplined2
always
has found
being
innocent
far
I
as
hope,
see,4
can
from God,
10 An
old
can one speak and
words?
3 It
come upon
you,
and
6 But may
FEAR itself be
been
upright
annihilated?
those who plow evil and sow tribulation reap them. and
they
lost;
are
a puff of
his
nostrils6
were
wearisome.
7 Think back now,
ways?3
lost? Where have the
knees that
it is indeed
not that
had the
you who
and they're
It
your who
8 So
9 One
finished.
lion may roar and the savage lion give voice, but the teeth of that will be broken. 11 The lioness is lost for lack of prey, and the
ones will
14 Fear
it has
was you who
lion
trace, 13
be
scattered.7
in
as one gropes
12 A
breath fluttered
could not recognize
or a man
18 If He
19
what of those who
He
will crush
Forever they them10
are
and
lost
more pure
in His
a moth.
20
and no note
they die
house
a
and of
They
before my eyes, a mortal be
17 Shall
than his
servants9
dwell in
them like
a shape there
a voice saying:
(gebher)
put no trust
deep
trembling, making all my bones to quake. 15 A me fixing each hair upon my flesh. 16 It halted. I
its form, just
Then I heard
was silence.
his God?
over
but my ear caught only sleep falls upon mortals.
word stole upon me
a night vision when
came upon me and a
of a
under
2 "How
from
many frail hands, 4
the simplicity of your
was ever
breath5
spirited
now
you out and you are stunned.
and your
surety,
wisp
who can refrain
and strengthened so
bend. 5 But
about to
a
But
to pick up those that were stumbling and bolster the
words
young
the Temanite answered and said,
wearisome?'
than
more
just
than
maker?8
whose
folly,
foundation is but dust?
beaten from morning till rope is pulled
is taken. 21 Their tent
without
then there
to His angels lays charge of
clay,
are
and
more
evening. out
from
reason."
Comments 1. It is
of utmost
Eliphaz begins was that made
importance to
the genuine good will with
in that way can we catch friends turn against Job so brutally.
to speak.
loving
note
Only
which
a glimpse of what
it
The Book of Job 2. See
33:15.
to
note
3. Eliphaz first tries to
Job into
pull
his
being
old
self.
From his way
understanding, Job's questioning indicates that he has forgotten his
has taken be
"FEAR"
normally
right,
if so, the
and
is
are and so
6.
my
look different to "nose."
in Hebrew, but they by Gordis. He may be
are taken
they
remark
not
a man who
is
the fact that
unaware of
totally
"simple."
tarn,
not
"wind,"
word can mean
Literally
actions seem to
may be ignored. If, on the other hand, the right, Eliphaz is not simply using a thoughtless id
rest of
"breath,"
5. The
of
He
common enough
majority of translators are iom. The words may imply that Eliphaz is the world may
simplicity.
longer trusted turns into fear.
no
ra'iti"
saw,"
"when I
mean
(pachad). For him the two
of one who
"ca'asher
words
"fear"
(yirah), for
identical. FEAR
almost
4. The
-153
"spirit."
or
Usually
used to
"anger,"
signify
and often translated as
such.
7. At this
of
begin to
point we can
For Job's friends
for Job
and
see
as well the
Eliphaz pulling away from his friend. only proper home for man is the home
man, the home of man as it has been defined
The only
proper concern
for
man
is his fellow
by
the wisdom of the fathers.
Not to be
man.
home
at
that world is to be an outcast and a man of sin. Throughout all of what
within
follows
constantly remind ourselves that our daily lives depend upon such a world. Only in that way can we begin to understand why good men might turn brutal when that world is suddenly found to be under attack. But for Job that we must
world
has begun to
crack.
Job
deeply
believes in
just God
a
the just in meaningless pain. The wise men have assured out
for the best, but it does
This moment,
belief,
as
confusion,
we
and
turns the world upside
understanding
see, is not one of
when
one of these
seen
and
curiosity, but
of
anger modem optome
with a pair of glasses
that
the world of perception at odds with their
they have
known to
always
book,
worlds, the
the world of the surface where the
we shall
wisdom of
the
innocent die in
world
keeps
When
speech cannot come together with the
blasting
like the
they have been fitted
there are no glasses. Throughout the
home, first in
doubt
calm
a rage more
down, leaving
of the world
him
he has
that all will work
not.
indignation,
trists tell us that men feel
and yet
into the other,
inverting
call see
home; but
Job trying to find a then in the other,
fathers,
pain and suffering.
it
this time
and
pulling it
But
out of
each
focus.
world, it gives way to anger, rage,
and madness.
8. Eliphaz has
posed the central question of the
even make sense?
Is there any
standard
for justice
book. But does the
apart
from the
the light of which His actions can be inquired into? Even if there relation to what we not to
humans feel
be the same, what, then, is
that all this is a terms? He
is
as
being
the status of
question which must
not yet
ready for it.
just
question
will of
is,
God in
what
is its
If they should prove those human feelings? Job knows and unjust?
be faced
one
day, but how
and
in
what
154
Interpretation "slaves."
9.
or
10. In
In itself the Human be
looks
like
a
It is
he has
raised.
implicitly
hostile to human life. essentially
not
human
cannot
outer surface pin
of a
pull
mere
the
at
which
its
by
all no more than a tent which
structure, but
solid
question
which remain within the plane of the
for justice
concern.
much
can
flat.
crumple out
11. It is
is totally indifferent, if
world
concerns
divine
of
18 Eliphaz begins to face the
verse
is pulled,
the tent rope
to the fact that they died
or
in
this phrase refers to the thoughtless way
unclear whether
without
which
understanding
why.
CHAPTER FIVE
1
"Cry
Is there
out!
3 I have
anyone
seen the
fool take
back from help.
shrank
were
nor
and
jealousy
hungry
devour
shall
9
who accomplishes
10 He
into the
fields,6
great
beyond
11 He
can raise the shattered the
despondent devices
dashes headlong. 14
those contorted ones
in the noonday
sun as
if it
downtrodden
will
17 Indeed, the
on
the
of
7 but
a
and put
my
matter
marvels which
before
have
no
the earth and sends water
high giving sanctuary
to the
and their own
hands
crafty
They
bonds
have hope,
happy
is the
of the
and the mouth of
God
mortal whom
Almighty; 18 for He
wounds, but His hands heal. 19 seven no evil will touch you.
darkness
encounter
by day
and
15 But the needy He saves from from the hand of the mighty. 16 The
were night.
the cutting edge of the sword, and the poor
for
of
ground:
upwards.
inquiry,
face
from
6 Evil does
them. 13 He traps the wise in their own craftiness as the advice of
cannot save
grope
deeds
dunce.2
out
taking
wealth.4
panting does tribulation sprout from the
who gives out rain over the
12 He has
mournful.
even
after their
('adam) is born to tribulation sure as sparks fly 8 Nonetheless I would make my appeal to GOD
number.
ones will
into his hut. 4 His sons suddenly beaten at the gate; and to save them there
man
that5
holy
murder a
entered3
shall go
thirsty
dust
not come out of the
fool
a
root and
They
the thorns: and the
kill
can
5 All he has harvested the
was none. under
to answer you? To which of the
2 For indignation
now?1
turn
you
From
six
injustice
will
disciplines,
causes pain,
troubles He
be
stopped.
that has no
contempt
but He binds up, He deliver you, even in
will
20 In famine He
will redeem you from death, and When tongues scourge, you will be secure and shall have no FEAR of violence when it comes; 22 but at violence and starvation you will laugh. Have no FEAR of the beasts of the earth, 23 for
in
war
from the
power of
you
have
a
will
bring
you peace.
covenant7
tend to your seed will
be
flock9
the sword. 21
with the rocks
24 You
and
will
be
in the
field,
certain of
and the
harmony
in
beasts8
your
of the
fields
tent. You shall
amiss.10
25 You shall know that your offspring will be as the grass of the earth. 26 You in full vigor like a whole shock of wheat
nothing
will go
great and your
shall come to your grave
standing
tall
The Book of Job in the time
its harvest. 27 We have
of
know for
you shall
searched
it out,
and thus
155
it is. Listen
and
yourself."
Comments 1. It is
unclear
implication
seems
but the exactly what Eliphaz means by "the holy to be that nothing within the world as Job knows it can be ones,"
holy. Within the limited between
man and
world open
unfriendly
nature.
to human comprehension there is nothing
Job's
his
questions will go unanswered and
cries unheard.
2.
there is
Normally
distinction
a
between the 'awil (fool)
made
who
is
morally guilty, and the peteh (dupe), but for Eliphaz the difference is irrelevant. Well intentioned or not, the frustration which must arise out of
considered
daily if
defeat in the unfriendly
world
3.
holy
must
lead
to
destructive
"pierced."
Literally
4. The text is very obscure. 5. "He will crush them like God
appeal to
Job
phaz and
in the
is
that lacks the
not self-destructive anger.
and put
accept these two
always time
for trust,
It is the
standing.
God
same
into the
sends water
and so
not nature as
fields"
it
looked 1
who
upon as
fearful
simply
would make my [5:8]. While both Eli
.
world
they live
together snugly in two. To Eliphaz there
all things make
like
itself
presents
"gives
sense, but for
Job,
to
leads only to madness. the plane of human under
a moth
within
out rain over the
face
of the earth and
that "can raise the despondent on high giving sanc
But this
Berith,
.
they rip his
for him
mournful."
to the
tuary
.
statements, for the one other
to one who can crush them
make an appeal
6. Nature is
[4:19]/ "Nonetheless I
before that God
matter
my
world, but for the
same
moth."
a
can
be
a part of given
the word used
only by those for whom nature, but as a marvel. seen
for Abraham's
covenant with
God;
is
rain
peace
not
in this
is only achieved by a divine covenant with the rocks and the beasts. Threatening boulders are not held back in their places by any innate most
forces lished
be found
to
by
But
world
within the rock
all of
Job's
pear to naked man.
face
of
itself, but by
the God who answers those
seem
divine to
covenant
They imply taking
to suffer.
goes
If
up,
seriously
that dogs
arguments
freely
estab
him.
arguments presuppose the relevance of the
things; that fire
sometimes
a
who come
what we
bark,
presuppose
and
have that
way things ap called the sur
innocent
intelligibility,
then
men
Job's
way things are in themselves. In something like natures in the ancient sense,
arguments presuppose the relevance of the other words, or
laws
they
of nature
presuppose either
in the
It is hard to know to have been
modem sense. what extent or
aware of such an alternative.
in whatever vague way Eliphaz could It is clear, however, that he knows that
Interpretation
156
beasts obey
the notion that the rocks and
covenant
a
into
deeply
cuts
Job
s
words.
8.
living
things
9. Greenberg: "When
wife."
you visit your
"sin."
10.
Literally
CHAPTER SIX
1 Then Job weighed, my
Almighty
the
in
are
bellow
are
like
8 Who
see
10 That
would
taste.3
have any in my daily
One.5
11 What I
end that
come
sourcefulness
of
it
truly be raise
up
care, 4 for the arrows of
My
eaten without salt or
does
soul refuses to touch them.
bread.4
request comes
light;
to
that
God
me, loose his hand
grant
my
and cut me
Let me spring up in my have I disavowed the words of the
to me as compassion.
for
never
have I, that I should wait in expectations? What is prolong my life? 12 Is my strength the strength of a rock?
strength
should
my Do I have flesh
7
were pleased to crush
writhing though He spare me not;
Holy
is tasteless be
what
it that my
to
would
venom.2
white
egg
a contagion
will
speak without
3 then
The terrors of God my spirit drinks in their 5 Will the wild ass bray when there is grass? Does the
hopes? 9 Would that God off!
And thus I
his fodder? 6 Can
at
the slime of an
They
out together on a scale!
me and
are arrayed against me. ox
laid
seas.1
the sands of the
even
said, 2 "Would that my indignation could
answered and
calamities all
bronze? 13 No, I have
has been driven
no
support within me and all re
out.6
14 To those in despair, the kindness of friends is due but the FEAR of the Almighty has forsaken them all. 15 My brothers have betrayed me like a wadi, dry.7
a
running brook that has gone They hide themselves in
black.8
they
vanish
from their
place.
the vastness and are lost.
16
They crystal over with ice and invert to They thaw and disappear. In the heat beds twist and turn. They flow out into
17
snow.
18 Their
19 The
caravans of
Tema look to them; the band from
Sheba hopes for them, 20 but find themselves lost because they arrived and were
21 So
now you are as
22 But did I
trusted.9
confounded.10
nothing
and at sight of
terror,
you
have taken
They
FRIGHT."
say to you 'Give me'; 'Offer the bribe for me out 'Deliver 23 me from the hand of the foe"2 wealth'; or 'Redeem me ever
of your
from
hands
of the most
24 Teach
me and
I
will
25 How forceful honest you!
26 Are
despairing
you
man
the
terrifying'?
hold my
words
busy devising
peace.
are, but a proof
an orphan or sell out a
show me where
I have
erred
l3
what proofs are
in
to be no more than the
Only
words while
wind?'4
they that come from taking the testimony of a
27 Would you cast down friend? 28 Come, face me; I'll not lie to you
even
The Book of Job 29 Stop, I
beg
not
palate
my
Let there be
you!
is
smacks of what
right.15
no
30 There is
know the taste
injustice. Give in! For injustice
no
on
yet
my tongue,
157 stand
my
and yet
does
ruination."
of
Comments 1. Job has
5:8,
almost no answer
for Eliphaz. As
began to
we
in the
see
note to
the parts can be stated and agreed upon. But their relationships to one
another, whether or even what
Job
they lie
kinds
Eliphaz may
and
in peace,
together
in
or contend
things can or cannot lie
of
not
be
anguish and
together, Job's anguish, then,
able to share.
in anger,
those are things
which
be laid
cannot
out on a common scale.
2. The
word
for
also means
the story. Job presents
feelings
himself
today,
after
It is
sponsible"
drinking
in the
play
pretty
good
idea
an
important
are still
far from the thought
of which
and
about what
originally
for Job. Through the in the
Job back into the
immediacy
in
behind the Latin causa, something like "to be re
verse
6 the
immediacy
of the
the example of taste, one can see
of
concept of cause and
effect, taken in that sense, to
plane, the world of growing
surface
of
lying
meant
and one can see
in
intelligible.
how Job thinks
of
role
His thoughts
venom-fury.
contraditory, but they
guilty,"
the power that exists pull
not so
Greek aitia, both or "to be
concept
give a
and will
the coming to be of philosophy, would call the relationship
cause and effect. or the
as
are complicated and even
3. Verses 5 through 9 we
"fury,"
"venom"
dogs, temporary joys and undeserved pain. At this point in his understanding, coming to terms
com and
barking
of
him is to
experience
drinks in
the
it
as
it
shows
itself to him,
as
with
deeply
as
the world around
he can,
and so
he
fury.
Even if the others, Eliphaz and the rest, cannot see the world as Job sees it, they should be able to tell by looking at Job himself that something in the world around
him has
gone
awry, but
of course
they
cannot.
But
perhaps the surface
is
right in pointing to a only deeper wisdom underlying it. Even then, thought Job, the surface should indi cate the way just as wisdom should give solidity to the surface. But here all the surface, and perhaps the others are
after all
be
seems to
at odds.
4. This is the
like,
eaten.
The
dish; it is filled
closest that
Job
this world whose parts rejection
can come to not
is immediate
telling
the others what
his
fit together. It is like food that
and
total. But
for Job it is
not
world
cannot
just
is be
a single
the mainstay of his life. For him there is no other world which is not
with the contagion of
5 All
do
we can gather
that cleaved
his
toward the holy.
world
disparity.
from this
remark
in two, it did
not
is
that whatever
have its
origins
it
was that
in any
native
Job
saw
antipathy
Interpretation
158
6. Here Job, in his imagination, to maintain itself in the point
he is
What
metaphor
it
could
mean
simple and straightforward dry,"
the
has been
articulated
is left
reader
Job
flow
which should
Newton's
with
the
inner strength
that at this
be like
what
a wadi? and yet, once a
begins to sing
metaphor
of shame
meaning
no
very
"a running brook that has gone
of a wadi,
feeling
have
and to
for
not
having
disparate
another, the many
with
life,
and
understood what
in
ways
the
which
pour out.
clear,
they
turn hard and
can
ease,
crystal
are.
Soft
and
skipping waters, immobile. The surface of the
suddenly turn black, dark as the sea or as how it is stmck by the light; it is called
can
upon
rings.
9. Mitchell has done
When, in
simile.
a man to
in speech, the
depending
all
be dead
and trusted are not what
be
which should
Egypt's night,
for
definition
one after
holds begin to
8. Things known
ice,
with
Job knows crumbling world, but
seems to
with a slight
Then,
was saying.
metaphor
being
no such man.
7. At first the soever.
midst of a
can envisage a
Sheba,"
verse
particularly poor job of catching the 19, he replaces "the caravans of Tema a
"pilgrims,"
with
we
lose the fact that these
this
wonders of and the
band
of
knew the
were men who
desert well, its every rock and dune. If we, the readers, cannot feel their trust, we cannot feel their horror when they suddenly feel lost in a familiar land.
The
reader must remember that
himself
Eliphaz,
is addressed,
to whom this speech
Temanite. Job is trying to give Eliphaz some insight into his thoughts and feelings. He has the almost self-contradictory task of making con fusion intelligible for him. was
10. The
a
moment we
remembering that world
11.
hear Job
he, too,
he thought he knew
By translating
was able to catch the
once
had
the word
sight of
on the
words
you
for "to
help
we cannot
Sheba knew
misfortune,
Hebrew
"trusted,"
he thought he
a whole world
as well as the men of
"At the
play
pronounce
take
could
and
a
desert.
the
fright,"
see,"
trust,
"to
Greenberg fear"
in
a
most wonderful way.
The word itself has two quite meaning is "to be different meanings, both of which must always be kept in mind. On the one hand, it is an inner feeling of being cramped, or of within a and 12.
sar:
The
narrow."
root
constricting horizon. On the other hand, it can mean guity in so many ways catches the ambivalence and
living
narrow
an outward
foe. This in Job's
ambi
Is it That Old Foe pressing Job down from above? Or is it Job straining to break out of a narrow and fixed confinement?
Job, then, is also asking the from the hand of
question:
"But did I
"
narrowness?'
13. The
word used
14. Job is sion, how ever
they
knowing
Panerge
met
implies
beginning can
that
a
ever
say to
wrong done inadvertently double power of words.
to see the
distort
a world of pain
they have done
Pantagruel.
waverings
so.
It is
into
a vision of
all so
you
Words
'Deliver
me
without vi
loveliness
strangely like
soul.
the
without
first
time
The Book of Job 15. Job
him, is
know that
seems to
how
no matter
much a man
there is in each of us the slight but uncomfortable
may
feeling
159
protest against
that perhaps
Job
right after all.
CHAPTER SEVEN
1 "Does
have
not a mortal
his days like the days shadows, and like a
say 'When
shall
hired
of a
Nights
to serve here on earth and are not
duty
servant?
2 Like
he hopes for his
hireling
months of emptiness.
a term of
yearns
for the
3 So have I been
allotted
a
wages.
slave
he
have they apportioned me. 4 I lie down and night drags on and I am sated with tossing till
of toil
arise?'
I
and
twilight.'
morning 5 My flesh is hard
and
in
clothed
begins to
ooze.
maggots and clumps of
6 The days in
that never will
its fullness
10 He
arises no more.
has become
skin
the weaver's shuttle,
me swifter than
an
that sees me takes no note of me; your eye cloud that reaches to
My
empty hope. 7 Remember that life is but a the sight of happiness return to my eyes. 8 The eye
and reach their culmination wind and
fly by
earth.2
and
will not return
is
upon
me, and I am
not.3
9 As
a
is gone, so he who descends into The Pit home again, and no one there will recog
longer."
him any 11 No, I cannot
nize
stricting my
spirit.
restrain
I
speech, but
will complain
will speak out of
in the bitterness
of
my 13 When I
the
narrowness5
soul.
con
12 Am I the
sea
my bed will show me compassion and my couch bear my complaint, 14 You frightened me with dreams and terrified me with visions 15 and I preferred strangulation and
or some monster
that You set watch over
me?6
death to my own substance. 16 I have be, for my days are but the mist of a breath.
contempt.7
17 What is set thine
upon
Supposing
Why
what
have
even to myself?
am
magnify him? And that thou
me
shouldst
him?
I have sinned,
perversions?10
my but I
live forever; Let
and
Man ('adam)T
burden
will not
inspect him every morning and test him every minute. 19 When let me be? You'll not even let me alone to swallow my own spit. 20
18 Yes, will you
a mortal that thou shouldst
heart
1
said that
For
have I done to you, Oh Thou Great Watcher Of that I become a
you set me on course against you so
21
now
Why I
can you not pardon
shall
lie down in the
my transgressions or bear You will seek for me,
dust."
not."12
Comments 1. There is verses.
God is
a strange and eerie almost never mentioned
nite third person plural or
in
in them,
the passive
Kafka-like
feeling
to the
next set of
everything is stated in the indefi voice. Job presents man as feeling a
and
Interpretation
160
horrible and
duty,
sense of
alone a man must
try
to name it or
Job it has We
to
duty
absolute and almost sacred
some nameless
unknown power.
totally
This
but
and meaningless
no
is something to which, and to which life, Job feels these things, too. Some may
this sense that there
devote his
it
endow
entire
with
name; it has
no
intent
and
love
and are at
home
it, but for
with
intent.
the name of compulsion. We may want to call this feeling by these feelings within man him begin to look for the causes of
moderns
moderns would
is something beyond
that there self, but on all counts, the book suggests
man
that Job has yet to see.
2. dust 3. The Hebrew has able
a
singularly chilling
effect which
to achieve in English. The original
Partly it lies in [actually "in"]
I have
not quite
'enechah bi
reads
been
simply language: ,enechah (your eyes) bi (are upon force of the twist, however, is felt in the final we'eneni.
the simplicity of the me).
The
main
is clearly felt as one simple word, it is composed of first part, we, when it first hits the ear, simply means but follows it can suddenly and retroactively twist it into a or a "none
word, we'eneni. While it
"and,"
three parts. The
"but,"
what
theless"
or even place an
Thoughts that (For
are set
further discussion
a
The
"in
spite of
fact that
of the
in front
.
of the
first
word.
8:2.)
problem, see the note to "nought,"
second
.
up to go together are suddenly seen not to go together.
part, ain, means
"nothing,"
or
"nonbeing."
or
The third part, ni, is a suffix formed from the first The literal meaning and, as a suffix, it means
person singular
pronoun,
"my."
of the word as a whole,
(is)."
then,
would
Actually "I
be "and my nonbeing the word is not all that
uncommon.
It
often occurs
in
such phrases
straw"
and
you
"for I
in
midst,"
your but when it it suddenly dissolves the world into nothing. 4. A man caught between two worlds is a man who will wander into many worlds, or into none, looking for a home. Time, the liar, if time were not and he as
am not
stands
were
bare
giving
and alone
not, then the turmoil
he did
exist, that
not
he
then he could return to
5. But then the persuades
am not
him
would not
was a
thing
Eliphaz
feeling
again that
of
be. If Job
of
and the rest
being
could
only
the surface, was .
.
an
a superficial
only
being,
and the rest
cramped and crushed
he is. This is
himself that
convince
(see
important turning
note to
point
6:23)
itself
for Job From
his last considerations, he knows that to take his own existence seriously will require a return to the surface. That superficial world which he had rejected for the sake of human companionship must be reconsidered 6. For Job the central idea to human society, that man is ever under the care
and watchful eye of
his maker, is crippling
and
ultimately fatal
to the human
spirit.
7. This
feeling
understood
in
of contempt which
contrast to
the
he has for himself
"compassion"
which
and
for his life is
he had spoken
of
in
ve
to
be 13
161
The Book of Job These two passions,
contempt
and
polar opposites will continue to opposition will
Bed
Job,
a
lead Job to
play that
the pleasure of self-contained
and
three-dimensional world
which
Job's final
role till
a new and strange
is
kind
sleep his
feeling of being watched of being watched has so
and
being
for
own and which reflects
and
sense of
friends is
being
8. Verse 17 is Job's ironic
Job's
watched.
so great that
commentary.
its horrors, but that ever done before so far
He
was a
as
man
thing
checking up
and
let
your
The LORD
forth
the outside world of author of
his three
his dreams.
your
on
keep
the
you
going
and the son of man
of psalmlike verses
variety
which
as:
keeps Israel
keeper;
your
a
watching him, him?
foot be moved, he
who
will
keep
for
had
thoughtful and caring man
which no
that you are always
Behold, he
will
need
he knew.
will not
The LORD is
LORD
in
that even
world
sense of guilt that arises out of the
contact
9. Again, Job seems to have in mind must have been on everybody's lips, such
slumber.
of monster
ring as a psalm, while what follows in the text is For Job, one need only think the tradition through to
that you are always
Ps. 121:3
The
not.
to
meant
What is
kind
Job's inner
its watching God has become the
see
Ps. 8:4
to
need
him, but it does
some
overwhelmed
completely in his dreams he is tortured by an amorphous
speech where their
should carve out a world
all
therefore of
as
harmony.
of
the surface world that Job has seen about
supports
here
are presented
which
compassion,
LORD is from
who
keeps
you will not
will neither slumber nor sleep.
all
your shade on your
evil;
out and your
he
will
keep
right hand.
your
life. The
coming in from this time
evermore.
But for Job they take on the cast 10. See the note to Job 11:6.
of
ironic horror.
11. Verses 1 1 through 21 seem to be Job's great discourse on the relationship between privacy and human dignity. To be constantly watched, and hence never to be one's self for one's self alone is, for Job, to be less than human. Even the complaining is itself a subhuman act, and Job must exhort himself to actually do it. To be watched as a thing out of its place is already to be out of act of
place,
or
like
thing
a
kept in, like the And
so
night
out a place
is
own place
but
Sleep
is the
one place
that
even there the outside can enter
visions, making his
must
be
watched and
place not
he had
inside in the form
his place,
and
expected of
for Job,
a
to be
dreams
thing
and
with
a contemptible thing.
Perhaps the man
its
sea.
Job turns to his bed.
his place, but terrible
that cannot know
one conscious act
thinks he can
perform
in
its totally internal nature, a privacy, is the act of swallowing his own
that, because
total
of
Interpretation
162
Job feels that if
spit
been denied him. When Job must
Being
hence
untrusted, and
body,
mind and in
God both in
has
he teels
how those words which quotation, we can see
psalmlike
become full
to him in the past have suddenly
meant so much
have
by
permeated
this
even
true
untrustworthy.
his
utters
is
God the traditional understanding of
of an
ironical terror.
If there is anything to this understanding the
of the
of
spoken
the
word
then, in
passage,
"compassion"
"contempt,"
in
13
verse
contrast to must
mean
another."
room
"leaving
for
or
.
it
stand what
is to learn to
to have
means
they
although
an
play
together
never come
will
speech.
of the remainder of the
Much
will
and
in the text,
role
critical
Job's final
again until
of some
"compassion"
"contempt"
increasingly
This is
the place of
"recognizing
importance since the two words
recognize
book
will
compassion
be devoted to
for
an attempt
to
The fundamental
another.
its
the full existence of the other as other, and
under
problem
relation
to
the recognition of self as self.
12. Although the
problem
is
nowhere near as
it was,
as
striking
still see note
to 7:8.
CHAPTER EIGHT
with1
tinue to recite these things judgement?2
Will the
vert against
if
you
Him
will
seek
God
He
out
pervert
He
have
your sons
if
Only
ask
fathers had
of
5 But
and
are pure and
you
make
rouse
the first generations. Seat yourself
searched
your
your
legacy
9 for
out;
we are
only
firmly
of a
upon
and
what
their
know nothing,
yesterday 10 Will they not teach you to you as the words come tumbling out of their heart? 11 Can pa where there is no marsh? or can reed flourish without water? 12
but
are
and speak
will
per
sinned
of their transgression?
implore The Almighty, 6
and
wind?
will you con
3 Will God
indeed.3
will grow great
days
Almighty
mighty right? 4 If
long
Himself up for you. He will hut to flourish. 7 And though your beginnings be small,
righteous
our
words of such
drive them into the hands
not
upright, surely then
8
2 "How
the Shuhite answered and said,
1 Then Bildad
a shadow
passing
over the
land.4
grow5
pyrus
While
yet
in their
Such is the vanish.6
15 He it
course
The
sense of
tender
for
days, they
all
profane man
before any grass, still forget God, and for him
those who
is lost 14 for he
who
trust will come to rely upon a spider will
lean
upon
unpicked.
wither
his house but it
feels
a
all
loathing
hope
for his
13
will
own
web.7
will not
hold; he
will
hold fast to it but
will not stand.
16 It may with roots
sit
fresh
twining
under the sun and shoots
round a
knoll
and
may spring up in his garden, 17
clinging to the
house
of stone.
18 Yet his
The Book of Job habitat
own
Such
devour him
will
are the
delights
of
his
and
him saying T have never seen and out of the dust another will
20
spring.10
ways;9
for
contempt"
joy. 22 Those
19
you!'*
deny
But surely God will neither have the hand of the evildoer. 21 He will fill with shouts of
163
your mouth with
hate
who
a simple
be
you will
man12
nor strengthen
laughter,
and your
in shame,
clothed
lips the
and
vanish."
tent of the
will
guilty
Comments 1. The Hebrew
This
we.
have
some
only you
didn't
call"
is
"and"
by
no
"when"
or
mean
fact that.
spite of the
In the Book
of
.
is
hereby
Otherwise the
in the
means
sentence
particle
mean you were
bread-and-butter
including,
others,
To
the translator, the reader need
"You
your simple
or a thousand
more
in town
"and."
It
and can
poignantly, "in
.
Job the
is particularly acute. Well-connected argu bunch of sentences all lying in a heap. The
problem
into
ments can so easily turn reader
is simply the is usually translated as
facing
of the problem
understanding
"but,"
"with"
the word
a general connective and
that the word
note
by
"and."
is
particle
I translated
which
warned that
a
I have translated have
sentence would
read:
we
"How
in
different
a thousand
long
will you continue
ways.
to recite
wind?"
these things and your words are such a mighty
2. MiSfpat: I
was not able
law"
and
eral
in the
can also mean a
Others,
wise
great
concerned,
mind outside
the
far
way
of
the insight
life
for his
span of a
wisdom
by living
a single man who must
how
an
it
"Right."
verse
sons
wanted
for any
It
Unless
the
other
8,
and
it
and of sons
to
make
actual
it
have
will
a
to fathers.
clear
that
individual
sin
he is
own.
to be that wisdom
single
which would
that someone
planted our roots
no matter
fathers to
the context of a human and
combined
only in
actual punishment
argument seems
by
prepared on one side or
or
the relation of
any
"gen
a given
"case."
argument proper
life dedicated to
even such a
The
as
sense of a
judge."
made
translated
his argument, however, he
fathers. The
experience or
a
his
each man must suffer
4. Bildad's
back to
justification, have
use either
with
beginning
thought that as
argument or
"judgement"
will start
deal to do
Before
or the
both in the
"specific judgement "case"
with some
noted, I shall
3. Bildad
can mean
sense of a
"trial"
other.
"judgement,"
It
translation of this word.
to find a single English word to use as a consistent
be
hence
is
not available
lifetime is too
needed even
autonomous
like Socrates
to the human
a political tradition
inquiry
short
to begin an approach to
into the
might one
reaching
to gather the
day
surface of
things,
lead.
many ages, have slowly through life, is to be trusted beyond the inquiries of of
the
fathers who,
over
have held himself back from life in
thoughtful that attempt
may have been.
order
to question
it,
164
Interpretation
Although these
doubt, any
roots
become
can
to discover wisdom must be a
search
only be found within the 5. "show its majestic
can
confines of a
lost
or
obscured
search
through
it. Wisdom
rediscover
to
well-nurtured
long-established,
and
adversity
home.
pride."
6. Bildad
even seems to
reed who goes
of
it alone, the
have
kind
compassion and a
man who
does
wisdom
berg). Or "Whose
lem is the
word
such roots.
confidence
from
yaqut,
One is
is
found in
interchanges
thread
a
(Green
of
(RSV). The heart
breaks in
form
root qum
On the
form
is
difficulty
by
is clearly
other
no
means,
there
"to feel
snap,"
however,
is
a
another root qut
loathing."
It
a
in the Book
as well as three times
"to
or
related to the root qmm,
hand,
of qus,
of the prob
that there are two
break"
"to
of qtt,
in the Bible. This is
often occur.
form in Job 10:1
lost.
and are
sunder"
the root qut. The
a rather common variant
this
is
confidence
After all, the
suggestion.
and such which
God,
gossam
an assumed variant
appears nowhere else
foolish
ways
the marsh,
stand without
man, the tender reed. Such men have forgotten
7. Others translate: "Whose
which
in the
or nourish
that cannot last. Other plants may be out there that can not
firmly
himself
not seat
himself in the waters of tradition, but tries to search out for himself. But much as he may love such a reed, he sees it as a thing
fathers
but
love for the tender
of
of
can
Psalms,
be
and
four times in Ezra. If this reading is correct, Bildad may have in mind something like the rather sycophantic way in which that arch-Machiavellian, Joab, fawns upon God's altar at the end of
8. Even home pose
a
with a and
are
comfortable
bear his
lonely
like Job
reed
needs a context within which
grassy knoll. The language and in good part derived from the
home,
and one on which
he
to
inquire
a
his questions presup he has disowned. It was a
content of path
still must
lean but
which can no
longer
Ultimately, his rejection of the wisdom of his home will cause reject him, and for Bildad, a man without a home is a man who has
weight.
his home to no place
his life.
to stand.
9. Intended
with an
10. Bildad
seems to
irony
between pity
somewhere
know that Job's problem is
and sarcasm.
an eternal problem and that
there will always be men like Job.
11. It is important to
note that
turn out to be so critical to
for
our
Bildad
uses the word
understanding
of
the
"contempt,"
which will
book
as a whole.
Cf.
note
42:6. 12. Bildad's
alternative
stands
it. That
except
for Zophar, Satan,
drama in
one
to the man of
was the word used
way
and the
or another
inquiry
for Job
Voice in the
think of
is the
so often
simple man, as
in the first
Tempest,
simplicity
as a
he
chapters.
In fact,
all the characters
high if
not
under
in the
the highest
human virtue, though they do not all agree on what the simple is. For Bildad this is to be understood in contradistinction to the man of inquiry. As far as the others are concerned, see the note to 31:40.
The Book of Job
165
CHAPTER NINE
1 Then Job
Him, He
with
justice
He
transport the mountains
6 Who
anger,2
Who
by
know, but
I
thousand.'
they feel it
to reel from
then
one wanted
what can
to go to trial
4 Wise
of
heart
and remain unbroken?
not;
its
or overturn them
place till
its
5 He
in His
quake!3
pillars
to the sun, and it does not rise; Who seals up the stars,
Himself
heavens
spreads out the
sea; 9 Who made Arcturus and
South; 10 Who
a
Him
against
and
can cause the earth
who says a word
and
fast
in
one
answer, no not
who can stand
all that
to God? 3 Even if
apparent
would not
mighty in power, who can
2 "Yes,
answered and said,
make a mortal's
accomplishes
Orion, great
and tramples on the
Pleiades,
the
and the
things, there is no
tier of the
Chambers
finding
7
8
of
the
them out
number.4
wonders without
11 He
passes
comprehend
him, 'What is it Under His
14 I
but I
cannot
Him. He
see
on, but I do not
moves
stop Him. Who can say to up do?' to 13 But God will not turn back His anger.
snatches
the ministers
and who can
of
low.5
Rahab bend
him, choosing my words against Him with care, 15 but in the right still I cannot do it. Yet I must plead for what
would answer
seems to me
I
am
just.6
16 Even if I not
me
you are about
rule even
even though
do
by
Him. 12 He
believe7
for
crush me
were
to summon
Him
and
He
were
hair
a
my breath, but
or multiplies
sates me with
my
to answer me, even then I
17 for He is the
that he would pay me any mind,
wounds gratis.
18 He
bitterness. 19 If trial be
will not
by
one
let
that can me catch
strength, He is the
mighty one, and if by court of law, who will plead my case? 20 Though I am just my own mouth would condemn me. I am simple but He will show me perverse. 21 I am simple but I no longer care and have only contempt for my life.8
Therefore I say that simple or guilty He destroys all. 23 When the whip suddenly brings death, He mocks as the innocent despair. 24 The earth has been placed into the hands of the guilty. He has covered the eyes
22 It's
of
all one.
its judges. If it be 25
good. upon
My days are 26 They pass its
prey.
not
He,
than a post.
swifter
is that
then where
should
flight for they have seen no boats; they swoop down like an eagle
They
through with the reed
27 Even if I
say 'Let
long
visage,
all
my grief, found guilty.
and put on a cheerful
since
I know that
take
me
look,'
my
one?9
forget my complaint, abandon would still feel the dread of
28 I
you will never
find
me pure.
29 I
will still
be
for an airy nothing? 30 If I were to wash in snowy with lye, 31 You would dip me in the muck till hands my would hold me in
Why
then toil
waters and cleanse
abomination.10
my cloths 32 He is not
even
a man
( 'ish)
together under judgement.
hand
on us
as
I am, that I
33 There is
can answer
no arbitrator
both! 34 But let Him turn his
rod
Him,
between
away from
that we can come
lay
his
frighten
me
us who can
me and not
166
Interpretation
with
I
His terror, 35 then I
am none of
would speak out without
FEAR
of
Him; for in
myself
things."
these
Comments 1. Job
thinks that there may be a critical sense
now
The distinction between
right.
from the highest
visible
in
which
Bildad may be
the thoughtful and the thoughtless
point of view.
He begins to fear
that at
may
not
level
that
be the
may completely disappear. On the one hand, this conclusion leaves him confused and perhaps a bit frightened. On the other hand, this con surface of things
fusion
ultimately force Job to his own native borders.
will
ness of
2. For the we
sake of
have kept to the
trary
into
a world well
to allow the reader to
and
consistency,
following
peer
convention,
it did
although
beyond the
narrow
do his
reading,
own
seem somewhat arbi
at times:
'aph "anger"
ka'as
hamah
gur
hath
"indignation"
"fury"
"terror"
"dread"
"RAGE."
3.
4. From these in the
verses one can get a wonderful sense of the
duality
contained
"fear."
In them Job is constantly pulled from terror to awe and back to terror. He is both drawn and repelled by a world that is too large to contain word
him. It is awesome, but he surface
5. In
understanding verse 1 Job
of
more
himself to the
just than his God?
For the without
moment at
justice that
in that
in it for himself
no place
he had
recognized
he had said, but he
question raised
least he is
even
also
by Eliphaz
or a mortal more pure
or
his
than
Bildad's
simple
live in
good will
knew that he had in
4:17,
his
"Shall
and
not yet
a man
be
maker?"
content to raise the question
to answer it. God seems to
trying
of mortal
find
showed that
realizes the truth of what addressed
can
human justice.
a world so
far
in its enormity above the cares
to raise the question now seems meaningless. The
large that to him it seems unavoidable that the little things will be crushed and those who are small enough to see the things that fall through the cracks are too small to be heard. motions
6. Job in them
must not
as
world,
cannot
do
In these
unjust.
come to
be
performed
and their consequences
cannot
caught
only
terms with two
conflicting worlds, he must act has forbidden. They are forever performed in THE
well, and what each world commands the other
Actions Job
world are so
what
verses
in
reverberate
he knows he
Job
a world.
must
presents the
throughout
fundamental
by divided duty. God is God, and Justice demands articulation, yet the a
the speaker who
feels
perverse when
all worlds.
do. problem of the
yet what seems act of
just
Either way
book Job is cannot seem
articulation points
he considers the enormity
of
back
to
the distinc-
The Book of Job between himself
tion
becomes
again
and
his
his
aware of
God, and he falls silent. But innocence, and justice again begins
her demands. This constant,
then
notion of
own
unresolvable cycle
167 he
to raise
leads him into bitterness
and
confusion. trust."
7. Or "I
cannot
8. Job's sociality, his that when
him. He
they
being, Job feels
so great open to
own self-condemnation.
the world around him and the conditions it
has
out of
yet, since he knows
place, contorted,
guilt, he knows
of no crime or
takes the only course
his
is
left
fellowship
companions and
him, he
them in
by joining
society
facing
of the sin of
guilty Divine
for human
condemn and reject
rejoins
When
need
having
of no
seen
his
and
way of expiation. He innocence.
placed upon
even
his
begins to feel
own
everyday justice;
wisdom and
and
perverse,
each seems
to mock and jeer
at
the
can
be
other until the whole turns meaningless.
9. The
is,
question
God
no second
who
of
intended to be
course,
is Lord
rhetorical.
For Job there
be
the surface, no one else who could
over
If the tart is gone, some knave must have stolen it. 10. Even at this point Job could put a false face
over
guilty.
the surface and go on
back to his friends; let it all rest in oblivion as he had once thought to do. Sometimes that old trick really works. Smile at the day, and the day smiles right back at you; but not this time. That ugly surface world and the feelings of dread from
and guilt which come
has been seen, it 11
.
This
cannot
seems to
ever since the world
the only world that
Job had
grown
its don'ts. It
best.
By
be
be
having
knew,
a
guilty man;
find something innocent man. Words like
of things as
they have been
and
a comfortable world with
its do's
and
sense, and in the main, things turned out for the world, a
and yet when
"outside"
and
he
world which
honestly
he knows
tries to
and
lives by,
look into himself to
has happened, he finds
begin to lose their
deeper
cence out there on a surface that
be found only
heart
focus. Job knows that he is guilty in yet he knows that he is not guilty.
that would make sense out of what
"inside"
surface
out of
his friends in
all made so much
all the standards of that
he, Job, is
Once the
unseen.
ever
with
up
will not go away.
somewhere near the
began to fall
he
it
seen
meaning.
an
Is his inno
wisdom cannot comprehend?
Or is it to
himself?
within
CHAPTER TEN
1
My
speak me
spirits
feel
a
in the bitterness
know
loathing of
my
towards life. I will unleash my complaint and
soul.
2 To God I
the cause of this struggle against
that You oppress, that You
have
contempt2
say:
me.1
'Do
not condemn
3 Does it
for the toil
me, but let
seem good
of your own
to You
hand, but
Interpretation
168
the counsel of the guilty 4 Have You
radiate upon
flesh? Can You
eyes of
man?3
5 Can time
as mortals see?
by
years pass
down my
as our years,
sin?4
that You probe
over
me
9 Remember that You
me.
and
flesh You
Your dealings
I
am not
guilty,
were
me
me
Do Your track
there
and yet
clay
from
yet
and
and that
milk and thickened me
knit
clothed me and
with
made
made me as
to dust. 10 You poured me out like skin and
mind
to
perversions and
back into my
is
from Your hand.
8 Your hands toiled devour
what time means
to You
7 Somewhere in Your
to save me
none
6
mean
see
full
of
me together with
life
all
You
like
about
cheese.
bones
they
will return me
11 With
and sinews.
12
Your guardianship loving heart.5 all these things up in Your care.
and
my spirit. 13 But You treasured I know what You have in mind; 14 if I sin You'll be watching and You'll not clear me from my perversion. 15 Well, if I have been guilty the grief is mine, watched over
but of
I
even when
innocent I have been
am
honor is left in
me
majestic pride of a
and
I
so sated with reproach that no feebleness.6
see
only my lion in hunting me? Must
17
You
16 You
must
feeling
feel the
you always use me to manifest
witnesses against me feeding Continually bring Your indignation against me. Army after army are upon me. 18 Why did You bring me out of the womb? Had I only perished without
your wonders?
ever an eye
to see me, 19 I
been led from the
belly
would
be
to the grave.
new
as though
I had
not
20 So little time
been,
as though
remains.
I had
Forbear! Leave
bit that I may be cheerful. 21 Well, I will be going soon, going to a land darkness and the Shadow of Death and I will not return; 22 to a land that
me a of
glows
tion
is
in murk, the Shadow
of
Death
and without order
A land
whose radia
murk.'"
Comments
1. Back in Chapter 4, Job had
said:
"I
him, choosing my has begun, although he knows that there will be no court and no judge. Despite the bitterness and confusion in his soul, he begins his brief like an ordinary brief, asking for the words
against
grounds of
be
Him
would
answer
care,"
with
and now
God's complaint, but
by
verse
the process
4 he
sees more
deeply
why there
can
no court.
2. Job intends this
statement as an answer to what
Bildad had
said
in the last
speech:
But surely God will neither have contempt for a simple man nor the hand of the evildoer. He will fill your mouth with
8:20
strengthen
and your
On the
laughter,
lips
relation
with shouts of
between
joy.
contempt and
laughter
see also the note to
30:1.
169
The Book of Job 3. Literally, "Are Your days like the days years of a man
Job
like the
of a mortal or your years
(gebher)T
be saying that if God can feel neither the dragging nor the time, He can understand neither punishment nor human suffering.
seems to of
rushing Hope and fear cannot
are
both
feel them He
from
meaningless apart
His
cannot understand
human
the
own
sense of time.
If God
judgements.
4. Job is saying that if, as Psalms say, a thousand years in His sight are as but yesterday when they are past, He cannot understand the sins of Job's youth as
just that, the
being
5. That's make each and care.
life,
sins of
what made
thing in
For the
and yet
it
his youth,
all so
nature,
including
case
Job himself,
everything everything had
long
ago
understand.
seemed to
most part
in this
an act of a
hard for Job to
dead
past.
God had
seemed to
with such perfection,
him to be
gone so wrong.
It
full
so
was all so
love,
love
and
crazy
and
of
mixed up.
6. This is, perhaps, Job's deepest insight into the and thoughts.
his life, one
Job knows that like
and perhaps more than most
to suffer on account of them.
beyond
such reasonable
Job feels that he is world of order
Eliphaz
nature of
his
own
feelings
he has surely made some mistakes in he knows that he has always been the men, But the present situation is different and
all men
bounds.
beginning
to
and the rest of
lose his
them,
as
struggle with
the outside world, the
well as with the world of pain.
In
to come to terms with the noise of all of these accusations, and remain
part of
that outer world, his only source of human relationship, he
beginning
to believe in his
guilty.
He lives
which
is best in him
own
guilt even though
with this contradiction
and
only
seeing only his
by taking
own
finds himself
he knows that he is his
frailties.
mind
not
away from that
The Book
of
Translation
and
Job
Commentary
Robert D. Sacks St. John's College, Santa Fe
CHAPTER ELEVEN
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite be
words never right?
3 Do
lence? Do
'My
claptrap of really believe you can mock spotless. I am pure in Thy
tenets are
His lips
and
discernment is many your for
up,
of
God,
sea.4
turn him back?
13 But, if
birth to
if,
you
your
blemish. You think of
will
it only
will
be in the
all men to si
rebuked?
sight.'
and
should pass
11 He knows the
Would
by
you
discover the
what can you
and
earth
separate5
become thoughtful
do?
mea
or close
Can he
worthless man.
man will
is its
when
see
the
('adam).
heart
firmly
in
and
have
no
and spread out your
hand,
your
then shall you
lie
out?
know? 9 Longer than the
bear
you remove
FEAR. 16 You
at ease.
will
be
19 You
it,
hands to Him 14 and
your countenance
has flown by. 17 Life
the morning. 18 You
forget
will arise out of
secure will
will
because there
be in
let
high
no
injus
above all
all toil and
the noonday
will
be hope.
repose and none shall
afraid.6
will seek your
all escape
bring
8 It is higher than heaven
10 If He
wickedness
tent, 15 be firm
burrow in
make you
Many
is
your
as water that
sun and soar as
You
a man
direct
there
when
tice dwell in
without
find them
it? 12 Hollow
wickedness and not ponder
and
can you
what can you
broader than the
wild ass gives
yours should
multitude of
always
4 You say being 5 Oh, if only God Himself speak to you, 6 tell you the secrets of wisdom: for and you must know that God will bear some of
things of The Almighty?
deeper than the Pit
who can
lip1
you.
7 The deepest things
sure and
said, 2 "Will this
the quick
sided,2
perversions3
utmost
man with
you think that this
you
would open
answered and
Must the
answered?
is lost,
The first ten
favor. 20 But the
and their one
hope is to
chapters of the translation and
Interpretation. The balance
interpretation,
will appear
Spring 1997,
eyes of
commentary in future issues.
Vol. 24, No. 3
the guilty
exhale the
will
fail. For them,
spirit."
appeared
in Volume 24, Number 2
of
252
Interpretation
Comments lips,"
1. Literally, "a man of and clearly intended to be derogatory. 2. The force, and hence the deceptive force, of human speech is its ability to speak of a part, even a random part, as if it were an intelligible whole. Job's
is
arguments presuppose that there
human
But there may be many
such
vital part of the whole.
The things
together in a
beguiling
be
foundation for human
not one of which
surfaces,
within our
ken,
fails to
they
while
open
to
existence.
obscure some
to hold
seem
way, may be required to be so modified by what human judgment inadequate to the point of mean-
sort of
is beyond it, as to render all inglessness. The spotless, when seem to
it is sufficiently
a surface and that
comprehension to serve as an adequate
seen within a
larger
context
may
no
longer
so. "iniquity,"
3. This word, which has traditionally been translated tends to be used in a rather specific way in the Torah, and it is not impossible that Zophar
has in
mind a
sion,"
and
het
distinction "sin."
or
which the
Het
twist,"
"to meaning "to "path," done to a or to "the a root
future
growth.
One
between 'awon
makes
mark,"
miss the
distort"
while
"pervert."
or
refers to an
'awon
or
"perver
comes
from
It is something that can be implies an effect on
or
right,"
all
Torah
"to
means
to a mind, and hence
act, the other to a way of being.
Consider:
Deu. 5:9
.
.
visiting the perversion,
of the
children's children, to the third and
Contrast this
Fathers
for his
the
different
his
or
put to
put
to death for their children nor shall
death for their fathers, but
each man shall
die
her
clear that no one can
own particular
parent, but
be held
responsible
"perversion"
with
for
it is
a
matter.
those acts of the
a general
fathers
whole of the nation: other
be
24:16 it is
In the Torah there is
in
the children and the
own sin.
Deuteronomy of
be
shall not
children not
"sins"
upon
generation.
verse with
Deu. 24:16
From
fathers fourth
which
tendency
have
a
to use the word
lasting
and
'awon
devastating
to refer to
effect on the
for example, black slavery in early America. Or, to
put
it
words, even an immigrant who has newly become a citizen of this
he, like all others, is innocent has, by virtue of becoming part
any crime his father may have committed, of us, inherited a debt to the Native American peoples, a debt which we shall never be able to pay in full. There is also another aspect to the question. The more one thinks about the country,
although
problem of
of
perversion, the more complicated and almost
insoluble it becomes.
253
The Book of Job The
have
sons
innocent
end the cycle?
I
it implies that
an answer can
term
Bible is
by
or
four
may have
they
meant when
what the moderns mean
considering
by
the
with regard to alcoholism or child abuse.
be
in
fuller context, the quotation from traditions, if well founded, tend to last
noted that when seen
Deuteronomy
a
clearly contends that good longer than bad ones; but it also implies that if the
have
optimistic when
generations.
syndromes"
should
to hold on to the bad ones for a
enough
whole of
blame? How to
apportion
being terribly
to rethink what the ancients
curse on a
"family
It
How then to
be found in only three
house"
"a
spoke of
alike.
sometimes think that the
might want
was no crime.
their tradition, and the suffering falls on the
by
the community, guilty and
One
but in their tradition, it
committed a great crime;
have been twisted
They
little while, the
not
were
world
sticky
good ones would never
a chance either.
This
second aspect of the
however, is
problem,
the story to be
not part of
told in this note. Here we shall be speaking of the debt which, from the point of view of
the
Torah,
Although evidence
we all
we must still
or
owe, guilty
leave
open
innocent
of
the question
any
sin or crime.
of whether
is
there
sufficient
to claim that the author of the Book of Job was aware of that tradition,
the tenor of Zophar's argument is so close to the thoughts contained in the tradition that I thought it not amiss to include this note. The
is
portrayed as
only
in
one
being
the
dialogue to
as we shall
which,
The
aware of the tradition
but
enhanced
use the enigmatic phrase
see, is so
reader cannot
is
critical
notice the
for
by
that Zophar
feeling
the fact that he
"to bear
is the
perversion,"
a
the Torah.
ambiguity in the
"bear."
A
word
man can
perversion
his shoulders, or another can "bear/lift that off those shoulders, that is, he may forgive him; but then he may have to "bear on his own shoulders. the "bear
perversion"
on
a
perversion"
Let
us
begin
the Torah in
by looking
for
ourselves at a complete
the
word occurs:
4:13
My
perversion
Gen. 15:16
The
Gen.
which
Gen. 19:15
...
the
Gen. 44:16
lest
you
be
fathers
fourth
a
me to
God
both
am a
bear.
we and the one
the perversion of
in
Therefore
whose
jealous God, visiting the
perversion of
hate
[generations]
me and
showing loving love me and
of those that
commandments.
my
and .
.
.
we
hand the
the son's son, to the third and the
of those that
thousand
in
not yet complete.
consumed on account of
upon the sons and
[generation]
kindness to
Exo. 28:43
your
for
Amorites is
my lord, found.
I the Lord the
great
of the passages
out the perversion of your servant.
slaves to
chalice was
Exo. 28:38
[Lot] be
city [Sodom]. God has found
will
Exo. 20:5
is too
perversion of the
list
he [Aaron] shall bear the perversion of the lest they bear the perversion and die.
holy
things
keep
254
Interpretation
Exo. 34:6
The Lord
Lord, is
passed
before him,
loving kindness bearing perversion in
and
truth,
God,
keeping
If I have found favor
.
.
.
the
love for thousands,
steadfast
but
who will
the
perversion of
the son and the son's son, to the third and the
Exo. 34:9
Lord,
to anger, and abounding
slow
and transgression and sin,
[the guilty], visiting the
means clear
proclaimed, "The
and
a merciful and gracious
fourth
by
fathers
no upon
[generation]."
pardon our perversion and our sins
[Moses]. Lev.
5:1
If
anyone sins
a witness
does Lev.
5:17
Lev.
7:18
in that he hears
because he had
not speak up,
he
a call to come
testify, knew
either seen the affair or
bear his
shall
and
he
about
was
it but
perversion.
in that he does any one of all the things which the Lord commanded him not to do and is unaware, he is guilty and he shall bear his perversion. But he may bring a ram to the priest If
anyone sins
....
If any
of the
it
the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten
credited to
bear his
shall
Lev. 10:17
of
day, he who offers it shall not be accepted, neither shall him; it shall be an abomination, and he who eats of
on the third
it be
flesh
Why
did
perversion.
[offering] in
you not eat the sin
it is the holiest
holy
of the
it
and
was given
the
to
holy
place
because
to bear the
you
for them before
perversion of the congregation to make atonement
the Lord?
Lev. 16:21
And Aaron
and their sins
Lev. 17:16
If he [one
his two hands
shall place
and confess over
him
on the
head
of
the
all the perversions of the children of
live
goat
Israel
....
who eats what
not wash them
[his clothes]
dies and
of
itself
is torn
or
bathe his flesh, he
by beasts] shall
does
bear his
perversion.
Lev. 18:25
The land became defiled
Lev. 19:8
Anyone bear his
Lord, Lev. 20:17
who eats
perversion
it [a
because he has
and that soul shall
A
man who
and so
sacrifice
be
cut off
takes his sister
.
.
.
I
punished
its
perversions.
left till the third day] he profaned the
from his
has
holy
shall
things of the
people.
uncovered
his
sister's
nakedness; he shall bear his perversion.
Lev. 20:19
You
shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or
father's sister, for that is to
of your
shall
Lev. 22: 14
Lev. 25:15
bear their
And if
Lev. 22:16
fifth
part thereof unto
the
holy
thing.
and
...
Or their
Lev. 26:38-42
a man eat of the
the
Israel,
kin; they
holy thing
it,
unwittingly, then he shall put
and shall give
they shall not profane the holy they offer unto the LORD;
it
unto the priest with
things of the children of
which
bear the iniquity of trespass, when they eat for I the LORD do sanctify them. be lost among the nations and the land of your enemies
suffer then to
holy
You shall
make naked one's near
perversion.
things:
will
devour
[eat]
you.
Whoever among you is left will rot away in the land of their enemies. Yea, on
account of their perversion
on
The Book of Job account of the perversion of their
along
remember
Num.
5:10ff.
But if they
with them.
shall rot
away I will
...
....
And the Lord
Moses.
said to
man's wife goes astray, priest and
fathers they
confess their perversion
255
.
.
.
Say
to the people of
then shall the man
bring
Israel, if any his
to the
wife
her, a tenth of an ephah of it, for it is a cereal offering
bring
the offering required of
barley meal: he shall pour no oil upon of jealousy a cereal offering of remembrance, bringing
perversion to
remembrance.
Num.
5:29
This is the law in
case of
her husband's authority, spirit of
then
he
jealousy
but the Num. 14:18
astray
when a wife, though under
and
comes upon a man and
defiles herself, or when the he is jealous of his wife;
the woman before the Lord and the priest shall
shall set
her
execute upon
jealousy,
goes
law. The
all this
woman shall
bear her
man shall
be free from
perversion
perversion.
And now I pray thee let the power of the Lord be great as thou hast promised, saying; "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and
faithfulness, keeping
love for thousands,
steadfast
but
and transgression and sin,
who will
by
bearing
perversion
no means clear the
guilty, visiting the perversion of the fathers upon the children
Num. 14:19
Pardon the
perversion of this people
Num. 14:34
According
to the number of
land, forty days, for every day
days in
a
...
and
generation."
fourth
the children's children, to the third and the
I have
pardoned
.
.
the
which you spied out
year, you shall bear your
perversion.
Num. 15:31
If upon
Num. 18:1
a soul raises
his hand [and murders]
And the Lord of your
father
said to
with
his
perversion
Aaron,
is
you, and your sons, and the house
you, bear the perversion of the
you, and your sons with you,
Num. 18:21ff.
...
him.
bear the
holy
place,
and
perversion of your priesthood.
To the Levites I have
inheritance,
.
.
given every tithe in Israel for an But the Levites shall do the service in the tent
.
they
meeting, and
shall
bear their
perversion and
it
shall
be
throughout your generations; and among the Israel they shall have no inheritance. For I the Lord your God am a jealous God visiting the perversion of the father upon the children and the children's perpetual statute
of
a people
of
Deu.
5:9
children
Deu. 19:15
A
....
single witness shall not raise
perversion or
The first time the original
perversion,
Gen. 4:13
My
word
was
any
is
used
Cain's
perversion
sin
...
up
against
in the Bible, fratricide.
man
for any
or one might even
act of
is too
any
.
great
for
me
to bear.
say the
256
Interpretation
The fact that the first city is indicative
the founder of the first
by
perversion was committed
the notion that perversion, as distinguished from sin, is a
of
communal matter.
Now it were all
must
in tents,
and
by saying, "Yonder city is near enough Even he knows that God has not yet it is only a little the way for the city, and that it is no place for a good man, but he is
overcome
right
to excuse himself
one."
flee to,
prepared
fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob even Lot when he flees the hills for the
that our
remembered
living
shepherds,
city thinks it is to
be
and
fear.
by
For the Bible, the two, fratricide
founding
the
and
Cain, first a farmer, then a founder, from "the to distinguish "the
this wise. wall
lishment of
God's
out
required that
The
creation.
the whole without
he
cut
himself
claim
a
off and obliterate all of
life,
shepherd's
laying
fence and then a city up This act of radical self-estab
thine."
mine"
the city, fall together in
of
put
on the other
his ties to the
hand, freely
roams
rest
through
is
to any particular part of the whole. It
at
farmers must, is an essentially political act. By setting up a part and making it into a whole, it denies the availability of the given whole, either for oneself, or another. Cain wishes to establish his own world in the fullest sense possible.
home, but it has
As the
a
further
arts, too, as
product of
no
home. Cain's
building
consequence of the problem of
having
their origin
fence,
a
as all
development,
in Cain's perversion,
since
the Bible presents
they
are seen as a
the city.
Gen. 4:20-22
Adah bore Jabal; he and
have
forger
years
one
and
day
father
of
play the lyre and pipe. instruments of bronze
was
those who dwell in tents
Jubal; he was the father of Zillah bore Tubal-cain; he was
name was
of all
Tubal-cain
Of course,
the
was
His brother's
cattle.
all those who
the
many
act of
and
iron. The
sister of
Naamah.
be the
there will
many books to
holy
city
of
Jerusalem, but it
the legitimization
work out
will
take
the city. Al
of
recounting of that story would lead us too far out of our path, we shall in time be forced to reconsider the arts and how the perverse becomes transformed into the holy. (For a more extended account of this subject, see my though the
commentary on Genesis.) Cain's act, because it is
at
the center
society, then becomes the nexus of
of
what
the illegitimate origins of communal
the Bible means
the only way of populating such a self-made world is via most
like oneself,
Lev. 20:17
lying A
with a sister
man who takes
nakedness; he
The of the
connection
between
shall
his
is
also
sister
bear his
.
called,
.
.
has
not a
by
perversion.
incest
with one
sin, but
uncovered
his
Since that
is
a perversion.
sister's
perversion.
perversion and sisters
is
underlined
ten other illicit unions mentioned in the passage in
by
the
Leviticus:
fact that
257
The Book of Job Neighbor's Father's
20:10
wife
20:11
wife
Daughter-in-law
20:12
A
20:13
male
Wife
and
her
20:14
mother
A beast A
20:15
having
woman
Mother's Uncle's
her
20:19
sister
20:20
wife
Brother's
20:21
wife
the only other to
Lev. 20:19
be specifically You
your
shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or of
When Joseph feigned the
Gen. 44:16
be
Judah
when
enough,
my lord, found.
of the stolen chalice
shall
both
upon
later
Joseph
and
in Benjamin's
bag
said:
we and the one
spoke of the
fratricide
the stolen chalice, but of the
to reflect
connection with
out the perversion of your servant.
slaves to
chalice was
Clearly
discovery
occasion
up is in
him prisoner, Judah
God has found will
have
which we will
the next time the word shows
and was about to take
kin; they
make naked one's near
perversion.
Except for Genesis 15:16,
in this note, his brothers.
called a perversion also concerns a sister.
father's sister, for that is to
bear their
years
20:18
sickness
in
perversion, he
which
had
almost
Therefore
whose
we
hand the
was not
thinking
of
taken place so many
before.
Gen. 37:17
And the 'Let
us go
them at them
into
him,
said,
"They
Dothan.'"
Dothan.
they
"Here
man
to
They
saw
him
conspired against
comes this
one of the
have
So Joseph
gone
away, for I heard them say,
went after
afar off, and
him to kill him.
dreamer. Come now, let
pits; then we shall
and we shall see what will
us
his brothers,
before he
They
that a wild
say become
of
said
kill him
his
and
found
came near to
to one another,
and throw
him
beast has devoured
dreams."
Again, the text in 44:16 indicates a relation between fratricide and perversion. Yet, in Judah's words, we can also begin to see some way out. The brothers, not taking well to Joseph's rather imperious character, decided to kill him. But Reuben was of a more affable character, and, thought
it his
duty
to save Joseph's life. But Reuben
was
being
the eldest,
something
of a bum-
258
Interpretation
bier. His
plan was
back later
ful. He
have the brothers
to
and return
was to persuade the order
splendid and
boy
"Indeed,
sell
to explain to Jacob what
recognize"
Jacob understood,
Judah thought longer
could no
the
and what
boy
share a
life
to come
was more thought
The only way that
only
was possible
wild
a
animal, brought it home to
Jacob,
this coat. Jacob looked at the coat and said,
eaten
was
thinking
pit,
passing Ishmaelite caravan. had happened, the brothers took Joseph's
Joseph."
has
a
arise again, and that the
only
Joseph to
coat, dipped it in the blood of a
a wild animal
Joseph in
out of the country.
brothers to
said, "Please to
much
put
father. Judah, however,
realized that the problem would
solution was to get the
In
to his
boy
the
kind
We
of a wild
only left to wonder how animal he was thinking of.
are
probably safe, but
with
the
after what
had happened, he
others and went off with a
friend, Hirah
the Adullamite.
Now, Judah had a daughter-in-law named Tamar, whose Judah, had died. Tamar felt it her duty to raise a
those sons, but Judah had denied her.
and, and
dressing Hirah
In pledge,
payment.
Judah
as a whore and
Judah
came along.
she
returned with the
She
seed
her
then threw off
at the
standing
slept with
her
in memory
of
widow's weeds
she waited until
city gate,
and promised
demanded his signet, his cord, kid, no whore was to be found
husbands, both
two
sons of
Judah
to send her a kid as
his
and
staff.
at the
But
when
gate.
city Some time later, Judah heard that his daughter-in-law was about to have a child by harlotry and demanded that she be publicly burnt. But when Tamar appeared, she to
produced
the signet and the cord and the staff, and said, "Please
recognize"
these objects.
Those words, "Please to he had heard them once before. Time suddenly became jumbled for Judah. Was it now, or was it then? Who was recognize"
speaking?
Was Tamar speaking to him, or was it himself speaking to h;s father was it that he was to "recognize"? Was it the coat, or the staff, or
Jacob? What was
it something
and was
ready
version, unlike
innocent This
else?
He had learned from her something about responsibility his brothers. For Judah, that return meant that per
to return to sin or
guilt, was a
thing
to be shared among
brothers, guilty
and
alike.
sense of shared
responsibility,
and
its
relation
sion, only slowly from the text. Perhaps aspects of the problem can be seen in the following emerges
Lev. 5:1
If
anyone sins
witness
in that he hears
because he had
not speak
to the concept
one of
of perver
the more tangible
verse:
a call to come
either seen the affair or
testify,
knew
and
about
he
was a
it but does
up, he shall bear his perversion.
This is, perhaps, not the deepest sense of togetherness that Judah was feel ing, yet even here we can see how an otherwise innocent man might find him self responsible because of where and when and with whom he happened to be, regardless of
how he had
acted at the time.
259
The Book of Job There is
one other aspect of perversion that comes out of the same chapter
in
Leviticus. Lev. 5:17
If
in that he does any one of all the things which the him not to do and is unaware, he is guilty and he bear his perversion. But he may bring a ram to the priest anyone sins
Lord
commanded
shall
and another
....
like it.
Lev. 22:14-16
And if
a man eat of a
holy thing
unknowingly
them to bear the perversion and guilt
In
Here,
perversion seems to
order
to
that the text
assume
is
be
intimately
dealing
with a case
to be aware of his crime, and that his
insensitivity Since he
on
his
lack
connected with
in
lack
.
and so cause
.
.
eating their
believe that the
the passage, I
make sense of
by
holy
things.
of awareness.
is
reader
meant to
the actor was in no position
which
due to any
of awareness was not
part.
only knows about it by hearsay and, as it were, from the outside, he cannot feel any guilt or repentance in the normal sense of the word. He can, of course, feel a deep sense of sorrow
was unaware of the sin at the time of the act and
because
of the
result, and
the same. He nevertheless still
he
feels
there is no need single act
he
for
repentance
in the
Bible
aware of the perversion of the
father,
as
it has helped to determine the
shape of
and
perversion, let
In the
him
proem
Exo. 20:5
your
.
since the
us reconsider
to the
.
.
day
.
laws
You
God
those that
which
of the
he
of
fact that the
greater
and
been the
may not bear insofar
source of much
his birth.
am a
between
lead to this discussion.
man and
bow down to them
jealous God visiting the
hate
me and
doing loving
man, God
or serve
of those that
love
me and
of this
a somewhat revised version:
God in
order
keep
my
says:
them; for I the Lord
perversion of the
kindness to
the affair of the golden calf, when
understanding
son
nonetheless must
his life
the passages that
of actions
shall not
[generations] after
since
.
the sons and the son's son, to the third and the fourth
But,
time,
word, there is no
the question of the relationship between ritual sacrifice
fully
more
same
the human need for ritual sacri
perceives as
be
To face
however, because
At the
normal sense of the
.
sustained
guilt,
to rid himself of a sense of guilt. This seems to be
can perform
one of the roots of what the
has
of
an unjust act.
fice: "But he may bring a ram to the priest At the very least, this law must remind one
of what
kind
a strange
knows that he has benefitted from
now
to undo any wrong, but that is not
a need
fathers
of
a thousand commandments.
Moses felt that he
to continue as
upon
[generation]
leader,
God
needed a gave
him
260
Interpretation
Exo. 34:6
The Lord is
before him,
passed
a merciful and gracious
kindness
and
God,
keeping
truth,
sin, but
perversion of the
son, to the third and the
son's
now
thee, bear our go
fathers
loving
bearing
no means clear
by
who will
the son and the
upon
[generation]."
fourth
haste to bow his head toward the earth,
"If
abounding in
love for thousands,
steadfast
perversion and transgression and
[the guilty], visiting the
"The Lord, the Lord,
and proclaimed,
slow to anger, and
And Moses
and worshiped.
made
And he said,
I have found favor in thy sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray in the midst of us, although it is a stiff-necked people; and perversion and our
he said, "Behold, I
sin, and take us for
make a covenant.
Before
inheritance."
thy
all your people
I
And
will
do
"
marvels
What gracious
ing
we
God,
steadfast
But
have is
ambiguous.
love for thousands,
hand,
"bearing
they
kindness
loving
merciful and
and
keep
truth,
perversion and transgression and
Moses actually
spoke of a
asked
"marvels,"
and of
God to "bear but
our perver
said not a word about
perversion."
our
Some time later, sent to
when
in
sin."
bearing
"covenant,"
sion,"
God
We have learned that God is "a
to anger, and abounding
slow
the other
on
.
spy
out the
a
After the
similar affair occurred.
very
land
returned and told their
tales, fear
men that
Moses had
struck the people and
revolted.
It
should
be
noted
in passing that this
particular act of rebellion was also
called a perversion:
Num. 14:34
According to the number of days forty days, for every day a year, you
in
which you spied out the
shall
bear
land,
your perversion.
The story of how this early act of perversion led to the necessity of conquer lands not originally intended to be part of the new nation, and the role these
ing
extraterritorial
lands
the country at the
played
hands
hundreds
of the
of years
Assyrians
later in the total destruction
of
Babylonians has already been because it is such a to bear a perversion. This one
and the
told in my Genesis commentary. I mention the affair only
striking example of one sense of what it means was bome for twelve hundred years till one day it of
was visited upon the children
the children. But we must return to our subject and consider the second
discussion between God It took
again with
After
Moses
having
promise
and
place at the time as the
argued the
back to Him in
Moses.
God
father
was about to abandon of
"a
impracticality
His
people and start over
nation greater and mightier of such a
a conversation much
than
they."
plan, Moses repeated God's
like the first, but
with
very differ
ent results:
Num. 14:17
And now, I pray thee, let the power of the Lord be great as thou hast promised, saying, "The Lord is slow to anger, and abounding in
261
The Book of Job
loving kindness, bearing perversion and transgression, but who will by no means clear [the guilty], visiting the perversion of the fathers son, to the third and the fourth
upon the son and the son's
[generation]. Bear the
perversion of this
people, I pray thee,
according thy loving kindness, hast born this people, from Egypt even until Lord said, "I have borne, according to your to the greatness of
thou
'
according as Then the
and
now."
"
word'
.
.
"I have borne, according to your Things have changed, and what could not have happened then, now can happen. As we shall see, that change word."
centers on the
Before
life,
we consider those
account which
brings together the
ousy, perversion,
Moses'
death, of brother, Aaron. things, however, there is in the Bible one
ultimately the
and
the undetected,
consumed at the risk of pain
same elements as
the story of Aaron: jeal
a
offering which must be all, forgiveness and the
priest,
and
an
death, and, last
or
other
of
possibility of returning to the fullness of normal life. Since the story lives on a more human level, it might be best to begin there: Num. 5:11-31
And the lord
said to
man's wife goes
Moses.
Say
to the people of
and acts
against
Israel, if any him, if a man
astray, unfaithfully her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself
lie
with
there
spirit of
jealousy
since she was not taken
comes upon
him,
and
and
in the act;
he is jealous
of
has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes and he is jealous of his wife though she had not defiled him,
wife who
upon
herself; the
her,
no witness against
if the
and
his
is
then shall the man
offering
shall pour no oil upon cereal
offering
of
his
bring
her, it, for it is
wife to the priest and
barley
a tenth of an ephah of
required of
a cereal
bringing
remembrance,
offering
of
bring he
meal:
jealousy,
a
perversion to
remembrance.
The the
priest shall
priest shall
the
take
some of
it in
the water.
and unbind the
bring her near and set her before the Lord, and holy water in an earthenware vessel, and
take the
dust
that
And the hair
is
floor
on the
of
the tabernacle and put
priest shall set the woman
of the woman's
head
before the Lord
and place
in her hands
offering of remembrance which is a cereal offering jealousy. And in his hand, the priest shall have the water of the
cereal
bitterness that brings the an oath
saying "If
curse.
no man
Then the
has lain
with
priest shall make
of
her take
you, and if you have not
turned aside to uncleanliness, while you were under your
husband's authority, be free from this brings the
curse.
under your
But if
you
have
husband's authority,
and some man other than your
the
priest shall make
the
water of
bitterness
and
husband, has lain
woman
that
astray though you were if you have defiled yourself
gone
with
you, [then
take the oath of the curse and
say
262
Interpretation to the woman]
"the Lord
make you an execration and an oath
Lord
your people when the
among your
body
your
bowels
swell; may
say "Amen,
and make your thigh
woman
drink the
waters of
and
and
in
a
he
shall make
book
and wash
the
into her
and cause
offering
of
her bitter
jealousy
pain.
And
out of the
offering before the Lord shall take a handful of the
and shall wave the cereal
it to the altar;
and the priest
offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it upon the altar,
cereal
the
and afterward shall make
has
woman shall
that brings the curse and the water that
water
curse shall enter
hand
bring
And the
bitterness;
the priest shall take the cereal woman's
and
the curse pass
away."
fall
these curses
priest shall write
into the
brings the
brings
Amen."
Then the them off
fall away into
makes your thigh
the water that
woman
drink
the water.
And
when
he
her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and unfaithfully against her husband, the water that brings the
made
acted
curse shall enter and
her thigh
her
bitter pain,
and cause
fall away,
shall
her
and
and the woman shall
body
shall swell
become
among the people. But if the woman has herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall execration
not
an
defiled
conceive
children.
This is the law in
case of
her husband's authority, the spirit of
jealousy
wife; then he
perversion
Here
have the
we
but the
is hard to
innocence,
astray
her
the
woman
all
this
woman shall
shake.
In
and guilt must
But,
as we
a case of
be
when a wife, though under
defiles herself, or when he is jealous of his
and
law
proven.
at
before the Lord
law. The
man shall
bear her
case of a man who suspects
or perhaps no grounds at all. monster
jealousy,
comes upon a man and
shall set
shall execute upon
goes
his
and the priest
be free from
perversion.
wife and
is jealous
know from Othello, the court, there
Within
a
can
be
on
little
green-eyed
a presumption of
family, however, for
the sake of
domestic peace, innocence must be proven. The Bible does not wish to defend that fact, but merely to deal with it. Guilt is often a very difficult thing to establish, but it
is usually impossible to establish innocence. If the husband is in bad error, disposition, it would be easy to say, "That's his Unfortunately, however, it has become the wife's problem too. The measured and
problem."
or of a
austere trappings of
ceremony allow the wife to pass through her trials without is intended to be a way through which the husband can
grave
danger. The
come
to terms with his
ritual
jealousy,
so that peace can return to
I believe that this law is intended to the
biblical
contention that a
our attempt
At
and
ritualistic act must
play
life.
understanding
of
a critical part
in
to deal with perversion.
Now is the time to
Priest,
formal
family
give the reader some
only
one point
an odd
in the
retell
the story of the
handful
of quotations
middle of their
life from
and our
the death
list
of
Aaron the
will remain.
first conversation, Moses had
said to
God
263
The Book of Job Exo. 4:10
"Oh, my Lord, I hast
thou
spoken to
am not a man of
speech, either heretofore or since
servant; but I am
thy
slow of speech and of
tongue."
We
him,
first. On the contrary, the more we get to know he seems. But God does seem to have understood some
cannot understand that at
the more eloquent
thing,
it was, it
and whatever
Exo. 4:11
Then the Lord him dumb,
makes
Him very
made
Now therefore go,
him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? to
said or
angry.
I
and
will
be
with your mouth and teach you what
speak."
you shall
But Moses
again
Exo. 4:13
protests,
"Oh, my Lord, the
LORD
was
brother,
your
is coming
kindled
against
Moses
and
Levite? I know that he
the
person."
send, I pray, some other
out to meet
Then the
he said, "Is there
can speak
well; and
anger of
Aaron, behold, he
not
you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his
heart."
This is the first time
of Aaron, and we might be a bit surprised to This anger "Aaron, your brother, the might lead us back to remember the first pair of brothers, and might even momentarily cause us to remember how their own father, Levi, once treated his newly adopted brothers, the men of Shechem; but these ominous feelings soon
pass,
The
did
pair
pieces
still to
minded of the
Such is the fall from
hear
anger as
first meet, the occasion is quite joyous. The slaves were freed, and slavery is a terrible thing.
the two
and when
What they did
we
Levite."
hear him introduced in
well.
was
be
right,
marvelous, but after it was over there were many Even before they escaped Egypt, they were re by the innocent among the guilty on the other side.
even
picked up.
harm
suffered
in
norm
all
countries, but Israel had been
commanded not to
let it
memory.
Exo. 13:15
For all the
when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord slew first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man and
the first-born of cattle. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that
first
open
the womb; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem.
After the escape, they came to a water hole at Marah, but the water was bitter and the people complained. God didn't make much of a fuss though. He
just He
showed
threw
Moses
it in
and
a
tree,
and
Moses
seemed
the water turned sweet.
to know
God
was
instinctively what to do. hoping the people would
how foolish they had been when they came to twelve the bend at Elim. There had been no need for the miracle. see
springs
just
around
264
Interpretation
Then there
was the affair of the manna and after
On that day, the
water.
that
people showed
they
that more
complaints about
incapable
were
trusting
of
the given course of things, but would need miracles, and so the Lord
said
to to
Moses, Pass
Exo. 17:5f.
Israel;
before
on
in
and take
Behold, I
and go.
the people, your
will stand
and you shall strike the people
"Strike":
second
with you some of the elders of
Nile, Horeb;
rod with which you struck the
before
you
there on the
rock at
rock, and water shall come out of
it,
that the
may drink.
imperative, singular; Amaleq, Jethro,
"Strike."
person,
We
must remember that.
Moses'
After
a
with
war
argument quite similar
Moses that the as
taking
hand the
rule of
father-in-law, appeared. By an Politics, he convinced hand, no law can be so fashioned
to the one found in Aristotle's
law is best. On the
one
to be able to deal adequately with each of the infinite number of convoluted
cases which can arise
can,
so
long
available, and when person.
in the
they
human
course of
he may face them
as
are, the
by
one
affairs as well as
one.
But
becomes too
work soon
the wise man
wise men are not always great
for any
one
Laws, then, are needed to guide others. So Moses made preparations, Mount Sinai, and received the Law. This was the law that Jethro had
ascended
spoken of.
Although it has
a
what we sometimes call the
proem,
mandments, the bulk of the law proper, Exodus
Ten Com
21-23, is essentially
a
law
governing the actions of men in their relations with other men. When Moses returned he told the words that he had heard to the people, and only after they had agreed to follow them, did he write them all down in the Book
of
the Covenant.
Exo. 24:7
Then he took the Book of
the people; and
do, Thus it
and we will
seems to
before they ceremony
could
once
Exo. 24:3ff.
be
they
of the
Covenant,
and read
it in the
hearing
said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will
obedient."
have been important to Moses that these laws be be
committed to
they had been Moses
and then read again aloud
writing down.
accepted
in
a great
written
came and told the people all the words of the
Lord
and all
the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said,
"All the
words which the
wrote all the words of the and
built
according
an altar at the
Lord has
Lord. And he
foot
of the
to the twelve tribes of
among the
people of
Israel,
and put
it in the basin,
rose
And Moses
early in the morning,
mountain, and twelve pillars,
Israel. And he
who offered
peace offerings of oxen to the
blood
do."
spoken we will
burnt
sent
young lads from
offerings and sacrificed
Lord. And Moses took half
and
half
of the
of the
blood he threw
against
265
The Book of Job the altar.
Then he took the book
hearing
of
we will
do,
the people; and
they
be
and we will
of the
it in the
and read
covenant,
said, "All that the Lord has
obedient."
And Moses
spoken
blood
took the
and
threw it upon the people, and said, "Behold the blood of the covenant
Lord has
which the
made with you
in
accordance with all these
words."
But
Nadab
Moses'
sacrifice
led to
a strange event
Exo. 24:9ff.
Then Moses elders of
Israel
Aaron, Nadab,
and went
his feet
was under
very heaven for
up, and
as
Moses'
ceremony,
Some
11, but
readers
had
which
may
of
saw most
Moses failed to see,
until
God
and of
lay
not
seventy
Israel;
10,
it hits
problem
on the chief
and ate and
drank.
somehow gone
others not until the end of verse us
in the
at
once, and
him
give
of the
and there
stone, like the
his hand
middle of
the Book of
immediately
called
laws
called the
Abihu,
and which
a second set of
a sacrifice.
The idea We
soul.
was
wish
is
of
When God
and
Cain,
human
law
soul which no
From the biblical
highest
lowest
and the
need to sacrifice.
nor
Abel, It is
origin.
nor a
Noah
wild
was asked
nest of
to give
interwoven
to become the whole
We
whole
by destroying the other; we wish by symbolically destroying ourselves in
God, and we bribe Him. in Nadab and Abihu, He quickly turned
give ourselves unto
that wildness
saw
Nadab
in the human
a strange melange of the
It is the human
to submerge ourselves into the of the other.
actions of
man and man could abolish.
we remember that neither
contradictions.
the form
Abihu,
been commanded, had
verse
clearly in the
view, this wildness
is in the human
First,
and
saw the
And he did
was a certain wildness
governing the action between there
Aaron's sons,
Stone.
What God
point of
of
were a pavement of sapphire
nowhere
Numbers. God, however, saw the Moses back up to the mountain to Tablets
they
Israel; they beheld God,
it in
sense
feel nothing
most of us
it
clearness.
men of the people of
awry.
concerning two
Abihu.
and
to
Moses:
Exo. 24:12
The Lord there;
wait
law
The
said to
and
I
Moses, "Come up
will give you
and the commandment, which
I have
written
next seven chapters give an account of the plan
tabernacle and the
installation
of
its
priests.
Abihu, but it is full
of number and order.
to
description
give a complete
acacia
to me on the mountain, and
the TABLETS OF
of
It
The
STONE, for their
for the
building
meets the needs of
passage
is
much
with
too
the
instruction."
of
Nadab
long
the and
for
us
the gold and the silver, the scarlet and the
wood, or even the lampstand and the turban and the ephod,
but the
266
Interpretation
reader's
head
be full
should
things that we must
proper
thinks about the
he
when
discuss.
now
Chapter Twenty-Eight is deur
these splendors
of all
a wonderful presentation of all the
and gran
pomp
to the office of the High Priest.
Exo. 28:1 Iff.
"As
jeweler
a
engraves
signets,
so shall you engrave the two
stones with the names of the sons of
Israel;
in
you shall set
filigree
settings of gold
A
stones.
And
....
you shall enclose
sardius, topaz, and carbuncle
row of
and the second row an
And
you shall make the robe of the ephod all of
in it
an
them
rows of
be the first row;
shall
sapphire, and a diamond
a
emerald,
in it four
blue. It
.
.
.
have
shall
opening for the head, with a woven binding around the opening, like the opening in a garment, that it may not be torn. On its skirts you shall make pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet
stuff, around its skirts, with bells of gold between them, a
golden
bell
and a
pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate,
round about on the skirts of the robe coat
in
linen, In the
checker work of
fine linen,
And
....
you shall weave the
and you shall make a turban of
and you shall make a girdle embroidered with needlework
middle of all this
however,
pageantry,
we
.
fine
.
.
told of Aaron's more
are
serious purpose.
Exo. 28:35ff.
"And it shall
and when pure
the
he
be
upon
And
and
he
Aaron
goes
front
We
The
read
it, but
rest of
Exo. 28:41
we
of the turban.
Aaron
"And
place
and
its
sound
before the Lord,
engraving
It
shall
be
of a
signet,
by
lace
a
of
'Holy
to
blue; it
Aaron's
upon
BEAR THE PERVERSION OF THE
shall
Israel hallow
forehead,
that
as their
holy
they may be
Lord."
not yet understand.
the chapter seems to go well,
but
you shall put them upon
sons with
holy
on the turban
which the people of
before the
do
the
fasten it
you shall
gifts; it shall always be upon his accepted
the
it, like
engrave on
HOLY THINGS
he ministers,
when
into
out, lest he die. And you shall make a plate of
comes
on the
forehead,
be
when
gold, and
Lord.'
shall
shall
be heard
him,
again the end gives us pause
Aaron
your
brother,
and upon
his
and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate
them, that they may serve me as priests. And you shall make for them linen breeches to cover their naked flesh; from the loins to the thighs
they
shall
when altar
they
reach; and go
they
into the tent
to minister in the
AND DIE. This
descendants
shall
of
holy
be
him."
after
shall
be
upon
meeting,
place; lest
Aaron,
and upon
or when
his sons,
they they BEAR PERVERSION
a perpetual statute
for him
come near the
and
for his
267
The Book of Job Chapter Twenty-Nine deals describes the
ter
appointment of off
for
a
the installation of
that makes
perfume
Bezalel, but it
and
the next chap
things smell sweet. Then comes the
all
will make
Aaron,
things clearer
if
we put that
discussion
bit.
When Moses
came
law,
is
of this
with
which
Exo. 31:18
down from the mountain, God
again
Tablets
Meanwhile,
specifically
of
the people,
Stone,
to
referred
gave
the
finger
written with the
of
him
of
return,
rings
form
a written
Tablets
of
Stone.
God.
Moses'
despairing
them a god. Aaron collected all their
as
Aaron to
asked
make
gold, fashioned them into a calf,
of
and said
Exo. 32:4ff.
"These land
are your
Egypt!"
Aaron
gods, O
Israel,
When Aaron
of
saw
who
brought
this, he built
made proclamation and said,
"Tomorrow
you
out of the
up
before it; and be a feast to the
an altar shall
Lord."
to
God, showing Himself angry to Moses, threatened to consume them all, and start anew. He said to Moses, as He had once said to Abram, "I will make Moses'
nation."
you a great
answer was a
made a promise
in the
to the
fathers,
world could ever
and
it is
slow,
reasonable
defense. God had
to break that promise, no nation
were
trust Him again.
And the LORD
Exo. 32:9
if He
a stiff-necked
may burn hot
said
to
Moses, "I have
seen this
I may consume them; but But Moses besought the LORD his
against them and nation."
make a great
said, "O
LORD, why does thy
thou hast brought with a
forth
wrath
out of the
burn hot
land
of
against
Egypt
by
thy
of you
God,
and
Israel, thy
thine own self, and
didst say to
will
inherit it for
thought to
But Moses
perhaps
it
"
ever.'
do to his
was all
just
a
And the LORD
will
people, whom
multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, shall
I
and
with great power and
mighty hand? Remember Abraham, Isaac,
servants, to whom thou didst swear
them, T
behold,
people, and
people; now therefore let me alone, that my wrath
and all and
they
repented of the evil which
he
people.
test,
and
if it
was a
test,
what was
God testing
God had, in fact, offered Moses the chance to supplant his father Oedipus had once done to his father. If the point of the test was to
about?
Abraham,
as
for himself that he was capable of rejecting the chance of sup father in order to save his people, he had done well. planting his But if it was a test of his sobriety and understanding, he had passed in let Moses
see
speech, only to
fail in
everything had
changed:
action.
When he faced the
actual situation of the
moment,
Interpretation
268
Exo. 32:19
And
Let
look
us
more
broke the tablet Stone
which
anger
and
broke
them
God had
Moses actually did in verse 32:19. He but the tablet. This is, presumably, the Tablet of
at what
closely
not the
camp and saw the calf and the burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his at the foot of the mountain.
came near the
Moses'
dancing, hands
he
as soon as
book,
promised
to give Moses in Exodus 24:12 and
had actually given him in Exodus 31:18 Exodus 32:15. This he
day
and which were still
which
He
in his hand in
that according to the Book of Exodus the tablet Moses broke the down from the mountain did not contain what we today, and for
means came
many days gone past, have called the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:2-17. Rather, it was the laws of the tabernacle, Exodus 25:1-31:18. Moses had
seen
a glorified and none of
irrational
the altar still
own sons
out of
the Land
tamed
by
Moses'
the
Nadab
and
Egypt."
of
reaction
of
lawgivers, only Aaron
of
High Priest. In the discussion
quired a
taste
his
so
why
his
of
But the
all
holy
Cain,
we
and
the
saw
sons
intricacy
of art.
Ham
rise
ended
saw
his
up
of the arts was the
a
tower,
as a
antediluvian origins, and the sight
and what explains the
perversion of the
different
now.
so that wildness could
The
be
Amorites is perverse
contained
by
begin to
the walls of the saw
by
order and
God
number.
In
order
gave the arts.
"And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze.
we can
Moses
was
had to become transformed into
.
within
That
line
not yet complete.
to meet the problem, Bezalel was appointed, and
Now
final
Noah accidentally ac farmer, a drunken farmer.
simple
poor,
could never come to trust the new covenant.
built
The
that was
Exo. 31:3-4
have
sort of
that room had to be made for the
that the
Later,
he, too,
night on which
Gen. 15:16
would
different
take onto himself the more dangerous position
act of perversion.
fascinated him that he one of
seen
was a
to the irrational meant that while he was the best
could
for the arts,
This led to that
calf, and he
golden
it. But Aaron
he had already seen come out "This is the Abihu; God, O Israel, that brought us What he did not see is that wildness could only be
precision of number and
irrational
outgrowth of
on
the human soul, perhaps a side
side of
in his
had homs
way, he had
bumbling
own
for the
substitution
placating
it. Even
In his
a man.
through God's trick. The tabernacle was nothing more than
understand
why the danger
.
of
death
always
lurks
Holy Tabernacle.
that the new was so close to the old that
chance unless the old was
firmly
put out of the way.
it
would not
have
a
269
The Book of Job Exo. 32:25ff.
And
when
Moses
saw that the people
had broken loose (for
Aaron had let them break loose, to their shame among their enemies), then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Who is
on the
Lord's
me."
Come to
side?
And
gathered themselves together to says the
Lord God
of
Israel, 'Put every
to and fro from gate to
and go
every man his brother, man his
and
all the sons of
him. And he man
his
sword on
gate throughout the
every
man
Levi
them, 'Thus
said to
his side,
camp, and slay
his companion,
and
every
neighbor.'"
In this way, the
sons of
Levi became the Levites,
and we remember
Hamor,
zeal purified.
Moses knew that he did Exo. 33:16
"For how and and
thy thy
fully
not
shall
people?
understand these changes and
it be known that I have found favor in thy sight, I not in thy going with us, so that we are distinct, I
Is it
people, from
all the other people that are upon the
earth?"
And the Lord
I
spoken you
Moses had slow
will
do; for
accept the
Exo. 34:1-7
of
of the
glory."
show me
thy
bit to learn that day. He learned that God
a good
Tablets
you
Moses said, "I pray thee,
to anger, and many other
face
Moses, "This very thing that you have have found favor in my sight, and I know
said to
name."
by
said,
things, but the first thing he had
was
to
merciful,
learn
was
to
Stone.
Lord
said to
Moses, "Cut
two tablets of stone
like the first; and I first tablets,
will write upon the tablets the words that were on the
broke. Be ready in the morning, and come up in the Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top the mountain. No man shall come up with you, and let no man be
which you
morning to of
seen throughout all the
mountain; let no flocks or herds feed before
mountain."
So Moses
that
cut two tablets of stone
like the first;
and
he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. And the Lord descended in the proclaimed the name of the
Lord. The Lord
proclaimed, "The
Lord, is
Lord,
the
him there,
and
before him,
and
cloud and stood with passed
God,
a merciful and gracious
abounding in loving kindness and truth, keeping love for thousands, bearing perversion and transgression and
slow to anger, and steadfast
sin, but
who will
perversion of the and the
In the
remainder of
the Tablets of Stone the
Golden
Calf,
fourth
the
by
no means clear
fathers
upon
[the guilty], visiting the
the son and the son's son, to the third
[generation]."
book, Moses demonstrates in
by instituting
emerges as
act that
them word for word, and
High Priest.
he has
Aaron,
accepted maker of
270
Interpretation
We lies
cannot spend as much time on
directly
in
the Book
our path.
Now Nadab
Lev. 10:1-4
and put
and
fire in it,
Abihu,
laid incense
and
on
died before the Lord. Then Moses Lord has said, T
Now
was
It
and
holy be
will
And fire
devoured them,
and
Aaron, "This is
among
God had
they
what the
those who are near
honored.'"
And Aaron held
too clearly back when
seen all
The
uncommanded sacrifice.
vision of
the "pavement of
was
drink."
right time to "behold God, and eat and God to call Moses back up to the mountain to
that act which caused of
Moses
sapphire"
too wild, and it was not the
him the Tablets
came
peace.
we can all see what
the
I
commanded them.
said to
will show myself
me, and before all the people
his
Aaron, each took his censer, it, and offered unholy fire
the sons of
before the Lord, such as he had not forth from the presence of the Lord
made
Leviticus, but Chapter Ten
of
Stone. Moses had
performed a sacrifice with
give
"the young lads
Israel"
from among the children of at a time when there were no proper priests, and now Aaron's sons are dead; but a promise is a promise, "And Aaron held his
peace."
The
rest of
follows:
the chapter reads as
Lev. 10:4-20
And Moses
called
Mishael
and
Elzaphan,
the sons of Uzziel the
them, "Draw near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the So they drew near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. And uncle of
Aaron,
and said to
camp."
Moses
lest
Aaron
said to
let the hair
and to
Eleazar
heads
and
Ithamar, his do
sons, "Do not
clothes, hang loose, die, and lest wrath come upon all the congregation; but brethren, the whole house of Israel, may bewail the burning of your
and
not rend your
you
your
which
Lord has kindled. And do
the
tent of meeting,
lest
you
die; for
from the door
not go out
the
oil of the
of
the
Lord is
anointing And they did according to the word of Moses. And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, "Drink no wine nor strong drink, you nor your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die; it shall be a statute for ever throughout your you."
upon
generations.
You
common, and
are to
teach the people of to them
by
offerings
for it is
holy
clean;
all the statutes which
and
the
and you are to
the Lord has spoken
said
to Aaron and to Eleazar and
Ithamar, his
sons
left, "Take
by
the cereal offering that remains of the fire to the Lord, and eat it unleavened beside the
altar,
holy; eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and due, from the offerings by fire to the Lord; for so I am
most
sons'
your
Israel
unclean and the
Moses.
And Moses who were
distinguish between the
between the
commanded.
But the breast that is
waved and the thigh that
is
271
The Book of Job offered you shall eat
in any clean place, you and your sons and for they are given as your due and your
daughters
with you;
due, from
the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the people of
Israel. The thigh that is
bring
shall
your
sons'
offered and the
with the offerings
fire
by
breast that is
of the
fat,
offering before the Lord, and it shall be yours, you, as a due for ever; as the Lord has
waved
they
to wave for a wave sons'
with
and your
commanded."
Now Moses
diligently
inquired
about
the goat of the sin offering,
behold, it was burned! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying, "Why have you and
not eaten the sin
thing
holy
most
perversion of
the sanctuary.
have
offered their sin
Lord;
and yet such
the sin
mourning
world around
diligently
inquire
Moses
offering
and their
and
his
living
that fear might
eat
Thus,
to treat any
There is
have
hold
taken
and so of what
of
angry
of
if it
Aaron,
and spoke
to
and
to him.
that he might
perversion"
of
had happened it
is
he
was addressed
to "bear the
were profane
from the
then did
the
was not a good content."
a perversion.
the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten on
credited
bear his
perversion.
from the Book
chapters after
The Lord when
This is
sight of
day, he who offers it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be to him; it shall be an abomination, and he who eats of it shall
one more tale
full
Lev. 16:1
sacrifice as
If any the third
six
was
and
Only
the sin offering, and this time it was Moses who "was
Lev. 7:18
teen,
He
that the question
be unwilling to "eat the sin people. Aaron calmly said that because to
from the dead
sons
them and inquired of their well-being.
offering"
day
burnt offering before the
offering today, would it have been acceptable in the And when Moses heard that, he was content.
about the goat of the sin offering.
was worried
part of
things as these have befallen me! If I had eaten
Ithamar, but Aaron knew
and
brought into the inner
Lord?"
Moses disassociated Aaron
Eleazar
was not
You certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, And Aaron said to Moses, "Behold, today they
commanded."
I
the
the congregation, to make atonement for them before
Lord? Behold, its blood
the
as
offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is a has been given to you that you may bear the
and
Leviticus to be told. Chapter Six
the one we have been
spoke to
they drew
one of the ways
of
near
Moses,
after the
before the Lord
the author
two apparently unrelated accounts.
has
of
discussing
death
and
begins:
of the two sons of
Aaron,
died.
indicating
a
relationship between
Interpretation
272
This
hood, is to
begins
account
of
his
again warning Aaron of the dangers linen breeches and the girdle, and of the
by
need of the
of
the priest
turban.
Aaron
bull for himself.
sacrifice a
Lev. 16:7
"Then he
door
the
shall take the two
goats, and set them before the Lord at
meeting; and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two
of the tent of
goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron the goat on which the lot fell for the
shall present
offering; but the
sin
before the Lord to
presented alive
be
After
much
away into the
sent
"And
Lord,
and offer
lot fell for Azazel
it,
make atonement over
wilderness to
it
as a
be
shall
that it may
Azazel."
we read
preparation,
Lev. 16:20ff.
goat on which the
he has made an end of atoning for the holy place and meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat; and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and when
the tent of
confess over
him
transgressions,
head
of the
is in
perversions upon
Which The
ing
he
readiness.
him to
The
a cut-off
goat shall
land;
and all
shall put them upon the
and
bear
he
by
the
hand
all their
shall
let the
goat go
wilderness.'
the
goat goes out alone
central
all their sins; and
goat, and send him away into the wilderness
of a man who
in
Israel,
all the perversions of the people of
their
of the
teaching
the problem of perversion
into the
cut-off world
is just
a matter of chance.
Torah concerning the Levites and hence is presented near the beginning of Book
concern of
Num
bers: 3:12-13
Behold, i have
taken the Levites from among the people of Israel. be mine, for all the first-born are mine; on the day that the first-born of the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own
The Levites I
slew all
all the
I
am
first-born in Israel, both
of men and of
beasts, they
shall
be
mine.
the Lord.
We have already Exo. 13:1 If.
shall
seen a similar passage
And
when
in time to
in Exodus: "What does this
come your son asks you,
mean?"
say to him, "By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of bondage. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord slew all the first-born in the you shall
land
of
Egypt, both
Therefore I
womb; but all the
But
Aaron.
now
the
the
first-born
sacrifice to the
Lord
first-born
Levites have been
of
of man and the
my
substituted
first-born
all the males that
sons
I
first
of cattle.
open the
redeem."
for Israel,
and soon
it
will
be only
273
The Book of Job Let
us
slowly.
to understand the
try
First
chosen,"
of
but in
chosen of the
passage
from Numbers
the word does
common parlance
field"
going through it
by
"first-bom"
all, the word I have translated
first fruits,
imply
literally
quite
"the
means
first-bom. "The
the
simply necessarily the best fruits. But among men, there is always a struggle between the two meanings. In what sense can Levi be understood to be the first-bom? In fact, Reuben was
the
first-bom,
Gen. 29:32
means the
not
the chosen one.
And Leah
conceived and
bore
son, and she called his name
a
Reuben.
Reuben had just been first-bom."
And
rael's
to
be
called
"the
"the
"the
chosen one":
Reuben, Is
people of
the present passage, Reuben will continue
chosen one":
Num. 26:5
Reuben,
family
I
first-bom
of
Hanochites;
of
the
the
of
Reuben himself was,
found
called
even well after
one might
the sons of Reuben: of
Israel; Pallu,
jolly
say, a
family
the
Hanoch, Palluites;
of the
bumbler. He
was
the
boy
the
that
and gave it to his playing in the fields mother (Genesis 30:4). But when Rachel died, and his father was out of town, he slept with Rachel's handmaid Bilhah. I suppose he thought that his father's
the mandrake
connection as
suppose while
to Bilhah had been severed and Bilhah
I say, incompetent
Of the sons, he
and
Gen. 37:19-22
a
pit,
now
try
intending
And they
Come
to rescue Joseph. He planned to have the to return later and take the
said one to another,
therefore,
and
let
us
pit, and we will say, Some evil shall see what will and
him. And Reuben
that
he
father
However,
as
his
worked.
The boys
Judah's
plan
Reuben later was
dead
of
pit that
might
his
dreamer
this
home.
cometh.
his dreams. And Reuben heard it,
hands;
them, Shed
is in the wilderness, out of their
and no
and
hands,
lay to
said, Let
blood, but hand
no
us not cast
kill
him
upon
him;
deliver him to his
again.
brother Judah saw, the
too angry, and
getting the
and rent
of
Behold,
boy
slay him, and cast him into some beast hath devoured him: and we
out of their
said unto
rid him
much wiser
were
returned
become
he delivered him
into this
his inheritance. He was,
was
not understand such things.
the first to
was
brothers throw him in
did
boy
they
would
out of the
to the pit and saw that clothes.
Apparently, he
plan would not
have found
have
another occasion.
country was much wiser. When it was empty, he thought the boy never
knew
of
Judah's
alternative
plan. were standing before Joseph in fear, he had happened to Joseph and to feel the guilt.
When the brothers remember what
was
the
first to
Interpretation
274
And Reuben
Gen. 42:22
lad? But
the
to
returned
let them take the young who
you would
blood."
for his
When he
Canaan,
and the sons were
Benjamin
boy
Jacob to
to persuade
trying
Egypt, it
them back to
with
was
Reuben
said,
Gen. 42:37
Slay
Of course, that
But, Isaac,
so
far
my two
him back to
bring
not
you.
Reuben
I
as
if I do
sons
be the very last thing that Jacob would have wanted. was a decent fellow, but quite a bumbler, and
would
before, know,
as we said
the only man chosen because he was a bumbler.
was
That leaves Simon. Now Simon were
them, "Did I not tell you not to sin against not listen. So now there comes a reckoning
answered
and
Levi
were always
treated as a pair.
They
the two who attacked the men of Shechem after the affair with Dinah. It's
a rather
troubling
account.
After
speaking, the
a manner of
men of
Shechem
had become their brothers. When Hamor first described the
houses to his
two
union of the
own people
the situation seemed ideal.
So Hamor
Gen. 34:20ff.
and
his
son
Shechem
and spoke to the men of their with us;
let
land is large
will
when
he
male
Only Hamor
made
it
clear
establishment of
brothers then
let
the
us
not their
be
with
daughters.
us, to
Only
become
on this condition
one people: that circumcised."
circumcised as
they
are
cattle, their property and all their beasts be
us agree with
just
defending
and
them,
and
they
holy
will
dwell
ours?
us."
with
have effectively prevented the God had planned. Were the
nation which
a sister and a great
promise,
or were
they just
a pair of
say.
prognostication
Gen. 49:5ff.
among
dwell
that any such union would
fratricides? It's hard to Jacob's
us
us give them our
friendly
in it, for behold, the take their daughters in
and trade
the words
added
"Will
Gen. 34:23
let
the men agree to
every
Yet,
for them; let
enough
marriage, and
to the gate of their city
city, saying, "These men are
dwell in the land
them
came
Simon
is
and
somewhat strange.
Levi
O my soul,
are
brothers;
weapons of violence are their
into their council; O my spirit, be not joined to their company; for in their anger they slay men, and in their swords.
wantonness
fierce;
come not
they hamstring
and their wrath,
scatter them
in Israel.
oxen.
for it is
Cursed be their anger, for it is I will divide them in Jacob
cruel!
and
275
The Book of Job When Jacob
calls them
injustices
the grave
"brothers,"
led to
which that
Thirty-five. And indeed, his
he clearly has in
mind their rashness and
Dinah in Chapter
after the marriage of
realized, but in two very different
prediction was
ways.
The Sons
Levi became the
of
land, they
throughout the
Num. 18:20
And the Lord their
land,
since
they
distributed
were
territories of their own.
to
said
But
priests.
received no
Aaron, "You
have
shall
no
inheritance in
have any portion among them; I inheritance among the people of
neither shall you
am your
Israel."
portion and your
Simon's fate, on the other hand, from the tribe of Simon, and
was
came
borders
the
Book
of
of
Judah. Of the
Joshua,
but five
all
total obscurity. No men of importance the men of that tribe settled within
most of
sixteen cities which were granted to of were also
listed among the
Simon in the
cities granted
to the
tribe ofJudah (compare Joshua 19:1-9 with Joshua 15:20-62).
Before the
land, Simon
settlement of the
59,300, more than any of the book, that number
numbered
tribe with exceptions of Judah and Dan. At the end
had fallen to 22,200, less than any other tribe. By the end of the Book of Deuteronomy the tribe appears to have no independent existence whatsoever, hence it is the only tribe which does not Moses just before his death (Deuteronomy 33). and
Although it had been nearly
Egypt, by
the time
completely
Thus,
each
Simon went
to
which.
they
and
God,
in its Levi
Judah
own
to
land,
the tribe of Simon
left
"divided in Jacob
Azazel,
had been
to exist as an independent tribe.
in
and scattered
the two goats. A lot was
remind one so much of
and the other
The glory
and ceased was
way
blessing from
the most numerous tribe when the people
the promised
reached
by
absorbed
even receive a
if it didn't
as
Israel."
drawn;
one
matter much which was
the heinous character of their act left no other division
and
possible.
It again
should also
fell
upon
Now let
us
be
noted that when
more
closely
at
Behold, I have the
day
that
consecrated
and of
must
at their
be
slew.
Now let
look
.
at
.
I
shall
slew all
for my
beasts, they
noted
direct
behalf. "... I us
hostage
at
random, the lot
the terms of this debt.
taken the Levites
Israel. The Levites
First, it
chose a
Simon.
look
Num. 3:12-13
incurred
Joseph
own all the
that Israel
request.
the first-bom
shall
be
itself
I
neither
was
the conditions under
all the
of the
people of
first-born
land
of
are
was
am the
of men
Lord.
incurred the debt,
incurred
mine; on
Egypt, I
first-bom in Israel, both
mine.
Rather, it
But the debt
from among the
be mine, for
by
nor was
it
the Lord on their
there, in front of them, nonetheless. which the debt was incurred:
276
Interpretation
Insofar
had
as the people
Exo. 2:23-25
a request,
Israel
the people of
and their
Isaac,
with
cry
would
be hard to think
Lord began His reply Exo. 3:7-9
by
and
remembered
Egypt died. And and cried out
up to God. And
came
his
Jacob. And God
of
covenant with
saw
the people of
just
of a more
or more reasonable request.
saying:
seen
the affliction of
bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites,
Hittites,
the
Amorites,
the
Perizzites,
the
Hivites,
When
back to Egypt,
you go
heart,
so that
he
Pharaoh, Thus
I have
will not
says the
see that you
in
put
let the
your
I
people go.
And
conclusion seem
to
effects of the conditions of
fire
The two tales that
Aaron's
story:
It
he
plague,
you refuse
do
not
to let
have time to tell.
the time the heads
Aaron's became
when
Aaron,
the
desert
of
a
though not
of
the families
That, too, is part of be nature. Then, too, there Moses, could run into their tree.
Zin.
exactly like the beginning Then it was the desert of Sin,
the story was the same.
in
say to
son, and I say
it.
we must go to
changed
which we
could make art appear to
was
moved.
all
harden his
the reader might want to put together for himself.
one must remember are
the way
was the time of the
Now
pans
a rod to plant and
midst and quell
and
be that for the Bible, man is responsible for the ill his own existence, even though he may have in no
way participated in their coming to be. There were many other stories of Aaron acts with the
will
you shall
Lord, Israel is my first-born
"Let my son go that he may serve me"; if him go, behold, I will slay your first-bom son.
brought
me,
oppress them.
do before Pharaoh
power; but
to you,
each
Jebusites.
and the come to
words are:
the miracles which
His
The
and to
land
Exo. 4:21-23
The
Abraham, Israel, and
condition.
And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians
But His final
for
God heard
their
tians, the
bondage
king
bondage,
their
my people who are in Egypt, and have because of their taskmasters; I know their sufferings, cry I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyp
I have
heard
a
God
and with
God knew their
It
groaned under
under
their groaning, and
was:
many days the
course of those
In the
help,
it
The
all these years.
all over again: and this time
people revolted
Last time God had
it
almost as was the
for lack said:
if they hadn't of Zin. But
desert
of water.
Not
much
had
The Book of Job Exo. 17:6
Behold, I
before
will stand
shall strike the
you there on the rock at
and water shall come out of
rock,
it,
Horeb;
277
and you
that the people may
drink. "Strike!"
second
God
"Strike!"
imperative,
person,
singular,
told Moses to take up the rod, but this time, he said:
again
Num. 20:8ff.
Take the rod,
brother,
and assemble the
you shall
bring
drink to the
congregation, you and Aaron
your
to the rock before their eyes to yield its water; so
and speak
water out of
the rock for them; so you shall give
congregation and their cattle.
from before the Lord,
as
he
commanded
And Moses took the
him. And Moses
and
rod
Aaron
assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod gathered the
twice;
and water came
forth abundantly,
the congregation
and
drank,
and their cattle.
"Speak": tive,
second
person,
imperative,
plural; "Struck": third person, indica
singular.
The
people
had their
Num. 20:12
Because
"You
shall not
land
Israel,
day, but
second
the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:
believe in me, to sanctify
not
therefore
I have
which
bring":
did
you
the people of the
that
water
you shall not
bring
in the
me
eyes of
this assembly
into
given them.
person,
future,
plural.
Aaron
will
die for
what
Moses had done. We
can
full meaning of the end of God. Moses had said, "I am not a man of
finally
the
understand
Moses'
first
con
speech,"
versation with what
he
meant.
Like
Billy Budd, Moses in
was that same old anger of
Stone,
and now
it had
his that had
caused
him to
threw Aaron at him. "Is there not
They, too,
were
brothers, like
anger
lost the
once caused
strike
Aaron,
him to
up to the
Num. 20:28
top
of
is It
smash
the Tablets of
the rock. That was why God angrily
your
brother,
the
Levite?"
the first pair, and again one will
the action of the other. But now things have changed. azar went
and this
power of speech.
die because
Moses, Aaron,
and
of
Ele
Mount Horeb
And Moses
stripped
Eleazar his son; Then Moses
And thus Aaron bore the
and
and
Aaron
of
his garments,
Aaron died there
Eleazar
came
on
the
down from the
perversion of the children of
and put them upon
top
of the mountain.
mountain.
Israel. I've
never
been
how Aaron died. I only know that his son Eleazar became High Priest, but whenever difficulties and bloodshed arose, he was silently replaced by his son sure
Phineas.
Interpretation
278
If there is may
escape
lying
a perversion
by
returning to the If he [one
Lev. 17:16
wash them
behind
civilization
it does
not mean
that one
prepolitical:
who eats what
[his clothes]
and
dies
itself
of
bathe his
or
flesh,
is
by beasts] does
torn
he
shall
not
bear his
perversion.
It is can
also
kill
for Israel to know that if It has done
a nation.
Lev. 18:25
and that
it
can
Lev. 26:38f.
perversion
dealt with, it
and
and so
I
its
punished
perversions.
so again:
You
will
devour
shall
be lost among the nations and the land of your enemies [eat] you. Whoever among you is left will rot away on
account of their perversion
in the land
account of the perversion of their with them.
Only
"faced"
not
so once:
The land became defiled
do
is
two quotations
But if they
from
our
confess their perversion
list remain,
Yea,
of their enemies.
fathers they .
shall rot
I
.
and the reader
on
away along
will remember
may
read
.
.
.
them as
best.
seems
Num. 15:31
If
a soul raises
his hand [and murders]
...
his
perversion
is
upon
him. Deu. 19:15
A
single witness shall not raise
perversion or
The
...
eyes of
this tradition. However one reads
flesh? Can You
up
against
any
man
for any
.
question must still remain open as
aware of
means
any
sin
see?"
see as men
to mortal man? Do Your years pass
into my perversions and track down my 4. For Zophar, the incommensurability
to whether the author of Job
was
in 10:4-6, "Have You "Can time mean to You what time
it, Job
by
says
as our
years, that You
probe
back
sin?"
its
origins
realm
in the fact that the
far beyond its
make sense of
own
which
workings out of
ken. No
view except
has been perplexing Job finds human justice take place in a
God's
view
is large
enough
to
itself.
5. The problem, according to Zophar, is not merely one of having a large horizon. It is the myriad of little separate worlds, each of which might
enough
suddenly come into contact with any other, or other. No world can perceive its effect on any
claim a
being
from any God brings
apart
other world until
together, and then it is too late. 6. This incommensurability is only apparent and is due to the limited charac ter of man's superficial view of his own world. But if man were to clean his them
The Book of Job heart
own
of all
injustice,
and
trust in
is
emerge as the center of all that
God,
all would
be well,
279
and man would
visible.
CHAPTER TWELVE
1 Then Job
learning fall a
will
short of
joke2
joke,
a
2 "You are, indeed of the people and with you die, 3 but like you, I too have some understanding which does not Who is not capable of such things? 4 But now I have become answered and said:
yours.'
friends,
to my
innocent joke! 5 For those
simple,
for
always scorn
happens to for those
slip.3
ask
But it's
calamity.
6 Oh, there is
who enrage
7 Just
God,4
they
with
the sea can relate the tale for
the hand
of
11 Does
with
the old or
not
the ear
Both the
undoes
19 He
He
deep
15 He
no path.
like
a
security in their hand.
or the
birds in the sky, they can Even the fish in
teach you.
will
these
all
does
for
His
be
know that it
and
the breath of each food?7
They
12 Is
are counsel and
He
understanding, 14
in
closes
on
a man and
the waters and all is parched. He
overturned.
16 With Him
are strength and
the one who causes the error are His. 17
and
ravaged;
trustworthy
upon noble men and
23 He
grope
looses the
earth.
them.
He
24 He
makes
in the darkness
the mighty.
from the
20 He 21 He
22
the Shadow of Death destroys"
then He
obliterates
them
elders.
the well armed.
girdle of
darkness; He leads
madness.
loins.9
and subverts
and takes taste
makes nations great and
He leaves
bodily
wisdom
understanding?
rebuilt.
restrains
things from out of the
light.10
drunken
not
to go about ravaged; and judges He drives into
the peoples of the
25
it
the palate tastes
make
land is errs8
one who
expands nations and there of
a
of robbers and
placed
the belt of kings and binds a strip about their
disgrace
into the
heads
days
can never
the speech of the
unveils
out
you;
living thing
every
makes priests to go about
obliterates pours out
will show
are wisdom and valor.
makes counselors
18 He
in the tents
God Himself has
words as
of
sends them out again and the
He
answer'
think at their ease there is
who can
the earth and
of
try
does length
ever reopened.
soundness.
have him
there waiting for anyone whose foot
out
you.
soul6
He tears down
nothing is
and
this?5
13 With Him and what
God
9 Who among God that has done all
10 In his hand is the man.
on
peace enough
which
the beasts and
tell you, 8 or have a chat
was
'Call
one who would
wander
them.
He
the heart from the
through chaos with
light. He
makes them wander
share with a whole
people, while Job is
without a
man.12
Comments
1. alone
They live in
a world which
they
in his. Perhaps they understand that world as is only one and all must be heard.
yet each world
well as
any that live in it,
280
Interpretation
2. "a
laugh"
3. While Job has
a certain
that which comes only
with
kind
for Zophar's
of respect
time, reflection,
belief, he
and
wisdom of cannot
the ages,
totally ignore
things, the immediate look of things as it reveals itself to anyone immediately involved. But the surface is all too easily forgotten, and its
the surface of who
is
be
uncomfortable remnants can
escaped
them into a joke. At this
by turning
in his thought, this notion of immediate involvement is of prime impor for Job. Without it things are merely the way they are said to be. 4. The meaning of the text is obscure.
point
tance
5. For Job, this is the unintended irony lying behind Nineteen, "The heavens are telling the glory of
the great Psalms like
God."
or
word can mean
7. Although the Book "hearing"
"seeing"
Job
"palate"
and of the
is
knowing. The
by
means
of
Job 6:6
Can
Job is
first
is tasteless be
what
help
of some
subject
"knowledge,"
what makes
knowledge
of
in
came
between
imagery
the
of
to understand what
our attempt
up in:
eaten without salt or
have any taste? My soul contagion in my daily bread. white
Taste is
around the contention
wrapped
for the true image
and "taste"
"spirit."
"wind,"
"breath,"
6. The
does
worth while.
The taste
the slime of an
They
refuses to touch them.
are
like
is
of a world
egg
a
what
livable. Unlike seeing, taste includes the most important as object, its beauties and its uglinesses. Knowledge is not a passive
makes that world pects of an act.
It
to
itself to
presents
to know
ingest
is
a part of the
Job constantly standing
and
us
in
way that
such a
we cannot
but
react.
to comprehend the whole as an object outside
not
object,
either
plays with the
speech, as if the
were the same
thing.
Job 12:20
He
of
At this stage,
the
knower, but
to make it part of oneself, or to spit it out.
fact that the
knowing
palate
coming in
obliterates the speech of the
is
an organ of
both
and the speech
trustworthy
under
going
and takes taste
out
from the
elders.
Job 6:30
There is
no
know the taste
At
a certain point
Job 29:10.
in the text, Job
The
on
my tongue,
and yet
for
an ear
hushed,
had heard
it approved, because I had
and
says:
not
my
palate
and their tongue cleaved to
it blessed me;
an eye
saved a poor man when
and an orphan when there was no one else to
But later, Elihu
does
says:
voice of the nobles was
their palate, and
injustice
of ruination.
help
him.
he
had
seen
cried
out,
281
The Book of Job Job 33:2
Behold, I
my lips,
open
in my
and the tongue
begins to
palate
speak.
From these two statements, it's hard to know exactly what is meant by the "palate." word The least one can say is that it is an organ of taste and of speech: that it is not the tongue itself, but something which, in some way or another, the tongue.
can contain
When Job
says:
Job 31-30
Could I have over to sin
he
means that
his
is
by
unity
of an
reaction
He
curse as
least,
moment at
there
8. The
loins."
The
pain, anger
he
is, for Job,
delight. He
or
out of which
is necessarily have tasted the
would
to the notion that for the
adds
immediate
an
it, human
as we some
that speech
means
it. This
spoke
that speech can only be
word used
implies
interrelationship bordering
speech
it,
concerning
is the
and
on
human
for
also comes
other
effect
sounds as
is
if it
words,
civil
enhanced
came
disciplines them
by
kings
same root:
discipline
by forcibly
them
sees
The
"He
about their
undoes
discipline
a
replaced
the fact that the
by
Job
in the
word
for
"discipline."
disciplines
in Hebrew
which
of the text.
have been translating as from that same root, as if to
discipline has been
from the a
and
disarray
language
by
captured
"bind"
the discipline of
speech about a world.
wrong done inadvertently.
same as the word which we
the word
In
a
because it is
feeling
melange of order and
him is wonderfully
world about
undoes
like. He
you
me or
palate
to it.
means
Further,
if
awareness of
object,
9. The kaleidoscopic "belt"
not
pleasure or
in his
sinfulness
hate
evil
merely on the tip of his tongue, from within and hence implies room inside,
the speech came, a world accompanied
struck at those that
had found them, without giving my asking for his life with a curse.
by
speech
times say, but comes
hardship
rejoiced when
life because
come to
word
by
"He
a
loincloth.
"strip"
for
the discipline
say:
about their
also of
kings
and
loins."
10.
Well, I
Job 10:21f.
will
shadowy death shadowy death
be going soon, going to and I will not return; to
At this point, for Job, the taunting chaos underlaying chaos which we do not see. 11.
causes
12. The ously, is
a
of roads to
of
land
whose
we see
whose
is only
and
light is
light is
darkness,
darkness."
a reminder of a
true
them to perish
surface
world, to which Job
crazy contradictory world, glory that lead
through that
land
a
A land
and without order
darkness
a
world
nowhere.
has
full
committed
But for
Job, it's
that we know Him. The world
to be a chaos, and yet that is where
it
himself to taking
seri
wisdom, valor, and madness; full
of
always
all
God's
world and
it is
is too orderly, too revelatory,
finds itself.
282
Interpretation
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1 "All this my eye has seen; my ear has heard and understood. 2 Whatever know, I know, nor do I fall short of you. 3 I would speak with the Al
you
I
mighty!
wish
to argue with God. 4 But you are a bunch of worthless doctors
who plaster with
lies. 5 Who
to silence? It would be wisdom on
can move you
6 Hear my argument; listen to my quarrel. 7 Would you speak unjustly for God's sake? For His
your part.
treachery?
words of
Will that be you can
8 Would
your ace
in the hole
deceive Him
if
aphorisms are proverbs of
ash,
and to
your
sake would you speak
His
or argue
a mortal?
Him
10
even a
bulwarks, bulwarks
Do
Certainly
let His fear fall
for him. 9
case
comes to examine you?
deceive
you were to show
be to terrify
preference not
Him favor
He
when
as you can
would argue against you
His
you show
think
you
He Himself
hidden favor, 11 will upon you? 12 Your
of
clay.'
for my sake. I will speak, let come upon me what may. 14 do I take my flesh between my teeth and my life in my hands? 15 It may be that He will slay me. I have no higher None the less I will defend my ways before Him. 16 That too has become for me salvation, 13 Be
For
silent now
what reason
expectations.2
for the impious do
not approach
17 Listen, listen to my have laid
out
my
words.
case and
would contend with me?
With
I know I
Now,
20 But do two things for
Him.3
as
be
to my declaration. 18 I
19 Who is he that
vindicated.
things are I can only remain silent and perish.
me and
Remove Your hand from me,
your ears attend
shall
I
and
shall no
let
not
longer be hid from
Your terror frighten
your
face. 21 22 Then
me.
up and I will reply, or let me speak and You shall give answer. 23 How many are my perversions and my sins? Let me know my transgres sion and my 24 Why do You hide your face from me and think of me as summon me
vices.4
Your like
enemy?
25 Would You terrorize
a piece of
dry
me
like
a
driven leaf?
straw, 26 that You write bitter things
the perversions of my
youth?5
27 You
put
or put me
against me and
my feet in the
stocks.
You
to
flight
bring
up
scrutinize
my every wandering. You circumscribe the foundation under my feet, 28 and all becomes worn out like a rotten thing like a piece of clothing that the moths have eaten.6
Comments 1. Job begins this and
fully
such
is
part of
understood the
not capable of
his
argument with the assertion
that he has heard
tradition. The implication here is that the tradition
defending
itself. This leads to
a new
he says; "I would speak with the Almighty! I wish to argue with God." To uphold the tradition by denying the surface, or as Job thinks of
plastering
over
its
wounds with
lies,
that
is, by calling
as
turn of things when
things just
it, by
when
they
The Book of Job
of
foundation it
be just, is ultimately destructive of the tradition itself. The tme the tradition must ultimately lie at ease with the surface, and any
to
seem not
foundation
283
which must smooth over the surface
its
by implication,
and,
cannot
terms, is a "bulwark of 2. This is the ketir (what is actually written). The geri (how the tradition says it is actually to be read) would give "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in meet
on
clay."
own
Him."
3. Again, Job is playing been
My
litterateur. There is
what must
have
He has become for
and
and
me salvation.
Psalms 118:14. In Psalms 118:21
also mindful of the phrase
Job, by
the
to
Syrians
surface
Socrates, Job's his grasp
character to
strong for me, then thou
are too
caught
between the two
have demanded has
courage
of the
shalt
worlds.
what wisdom
in its
no existence
importance
me salvation.
play
with
the line. Joab
become for
The
me salvation.
human
surface and
has forbidden. As in the own
right, but is
in front
of the question
human concerns,
accordance with those
dom's
biblical
hast become for
his brother Abishai:
Job has been for the
answered and thou
the way, was not the only
once said
of
Lord,
in Exodus 15:2, Isaiah 12:2,
Thank thee that thou hast
If
the psalmic
strength and the music of the
which occurs
it is
with
a well-known phrase:
while
feeling
of
full
case of
integral
an
him. Job
the
care
part
must act
in
weight of wis
prohibition.
When quoting the
added the critical words some new
kind
of
too,"
"That
as
if to
In light
Job, like Socrates, implicitly piety. It may consist of our case, the Delphic
of the
first
verses of
suggests a need
attempt
salvation,"
me
he has
he may have glimpsed may be full of danger and
suggest that
salvation, though searching it out
require great courage.
Socrates'
"[it/he] has become for
phrase
the chapter, we can see that
to reconsider our notion of true
to understand the words
Oracle, by taking
of
the
them seriously, while
God, in
facing
the
claims of the surface.
We
must also remember
courage
that
in
verse
9, Job had implied
in Zophar that led him to his false
4. At this
point
Job
pauses
that
it
was a
lack
of
piety.
half in expectation, but receiving
no
reply, he
turns and goes on.
5. In this passage, Job, too, associates perversion with the long-distant past, a long-distant dead past. This was not the first time. Back in
but for him it is
Chapter Ten he had
said:
Interpretation
284
Have You
Job 10:4
eyes of
flesh? Can You
to You what time means to man?
Can time
see as mortals see?
Do Your
years pass
by
back into my perversions and track down my sin? Somewhere in Your mind I am not guilty, and yet there is none to
You
that
me
Not
denied
probe
but the
Told in
he is heir to
that
writings
to build
a past on which
of perversion
charge
a
of
a
is the true
of
long-forgotten perversion,
human man
piece of
is
dry
blowing
being
question of perversion with
the problem
watched:
Job 7:18
Yes,
and
let
will you
inspect him every morning and test him every minute. When be? You'll not even let me alone to swallow my own
me
I have sinned,
Supposing
spit.
Watcher Of Man?
become
burden
a
have
Why even
have I done to you, Oh Thou Great I
what
you set me on course against you so that
to myself?
Why
can you not pardon
forgive my perversions? For seek for me, but I am not.
transgressions or
dust. You
And
source
firm foundation. He becomes the
in every wind. Twice before Job had connected the
straw
save
from Your hand.
perversion
suffering.
mean
as our years,
again
will
now
I
and
loving
shall
my lie down in the
in Chapter Ten. Your dealings
Job 10:12ff.
with me were
full
of
life
care.
Your
guardianship watched over my spirit. But You treasured all these things in Your heart. I know what You have in mind; if I sin You'll be watching and You'll not clear me from my perversion. Well if I have been guilty the grief is mine, but even when I am innocent I
have been me and
and will soon
do
Job 14:16
Then
and
It is this
no
You
sense of
of what
so sated with reproach that no
see
feeling
of
honor is left in
only my feebleness.
so again:
the watch
because
I
longer
for my
would
sin.
My
You
would plaster over
being
keep
track of my every step, or be on
transgression would
my
be
sealed
up in
a pouch
perversions.
not because of anything he has done, but his inherited perversion, that has reduced Job
watched,
he is, because
of
to nonbeing.
People do indeed as some
form
suffer
for
the actions of past generations,
of poetic or even
to undermine that sense of
divine justice
honor
required to
rather than a
right the
but to
regard that
horrible necessity is
effects of those ancient
actions.
6. Here his
we get a closer
case and
it
can
be
look
at
made solid.
Job's first He
can
view of
the clash. He can
demand to know the
lay
out
exact nature of
285
The Book of Job
the charges laid up against him and their precise number. Such is the nature of all the evidence, but it is not clear that there is any way of presenting such
in the
evidence
Like
other court.
Job
Socrates,
human speech, but unless or sees, or knows will be worth the Cf. note to 7:21.
means of
can only speak or reply by be left for it, nothing that Job has, clothing that the moths have eaten.
room can piece of
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
1 Man up You
is born
('adam)
fresh bud
as a
Your
open
of
and withers.
to
eyes even
unclean
thing? Not
months.
You have
from him
gaze
7 For
the dust to
die, 9
branches like and
is
sea.
Set
long
become
roots
old
river
expires,
You to hide
fixed limit
back to life
again?
keep
have love for the
track
of
sion would
be
18 A place.8
me
mountain
overpowered
21 His was
work of
have
the land.
man,
sons were
unaware.10
has fallen
waters of
out
to
of an
his
number of
6 Then
turn Your
acceptable.4
are
and
he
(gebher) dies, is he? 11 The
and where
is dried
they
are no more
in the Pit
All the days
Your
be
my every step, sealed up in a pouch
away the dust
3 Can
him'
and its sprouting its stump is left in it bursts into bloom and sends out
and remember me.
or
19 The
sprouts
itself
renews
a wasteland and
Till the heavens
with
thing
the
hireling
as a
when a man
becomes
keep
in the land
the scent of water
10 But
along
a clean
cannot overstep.
down, it
tation for my release to come. 15 You would
bring
his days
as
cut
2 He
perishes
waters are
12 A
up.
man
shall not wake nor
be
slumber.5
can move me a
and still come
can
he
which
so
('adam)
The
and rises not.
13 Who
come
be,
sapling.
from their
passes?
at
young more. A man
no
roused
he
then
a
from the
lies down
let him
8 When its
never wanes.
gone
4 Who
him limits
of rage.
as a shadow and cannot endure.
that,
one such as
tree there is hope. If it is
a
by
5 His time is fixed. You
one!3
set
and
He flits
You?2
proceedings raised against
full
short-lived and
woman,
and
and
the
stones
resigned. never
I
knew
longer
no sin.
a rock
away
and
17
of
body surrounds him with
it.
You
You
transgres
perversions.7
my dislodged from its washed
hope. 20 You have
his face
They
pain,
My
will
expec
would
its torrents have
all mortal
mangled
in
would answer and
for my
away,
your anger
waited
would plaster over
trashed9
You
I have
16 Then
watch
You
So, You have
honored but he
22 His
hands.6
the
on
my
till
(gebher) dies,
a man
service
would call.
and crumbled
worn
he has
of
and conceal me
14 If
and sent
him
off.
in disgrace, but he his spirit is eaten away.
were
and
Comments 1. Note the
but
mankind
change
in his
to the third person. Job
own person.
will
defend
not
himself simply,
286
Interpretation
2. Man is
not
the
best
He is, in fact, "bom of that is the man whom Job has chosen
of all conceivable creatures.
woman, short-lived and full
rage,"
of
yet
to defend. Is God willing to judge mankind in terms of the highest goals of which they are capable, or will He insist upon the highest simply? It is one
judged
Job,
from within, but to feel constantly to ever be made to feel wanting is, for
to strive toward impossible goals
thing
by
them from without, and so
to render all those strivings meaningless.
3. Justice
must expect
thing the highest possible; to demand more be unjust. One wonders if these thoughts that Job
from
each
man, or of a tree, would is thinking at this juncture might nature in its classical sense.
of a
not
be
part of what
led
men to the concept of
4. If
man's nature is limited, a way must be found for him to be. 5. The compelling mood of this passage lies in the capacity of a man with thoughts so laden with death to give such full articulation to a world bursting with
life.
6. Thoughts
drifting
off
of the slumber of
into
over and merge
calling and him. It is a
a wonderful
into
The hands that
wide world
full
of room
which the
All the
a single world.
answering.
7. Job's daydream
death have tired Job,
daydream in
made
for
and now
he is slowly
two worlds begin to blur
There is
contradictions are gone.
Job
no
man and
culminates with an end
longer devour him, but love
for God.
to the watching and the
cessation
of all charges of perversion.
and the din of the clashing thousandfold, and the surface world has been nothing left but the pain of the lost dream.
8. Job suddenly wakes,
ied
a
9.
it
suddenly
feeling not
has been
washed away.
magnif
There is
caused to perish
10. This stand
worlds
the
as
verse seems rather
I
should wish.
wakes
gruffly
from his dream
and
can
do is to
able
to under
point out that when
Job
finds himself back in
the clashing worlds, his fall from the dream, his first thoughts concern of perversion, but its inverse. The problem has shifted from an
awakened
problem
critical, though I have not been
The best I
by
overburdensome awareness of
the acts of the
father
agonizing lack of awareness of the acts of the son have not been able to see the implications of the
on
the
part of
the son, to an
on the part of the
shift.
father, but I
The Book
of
Translation
and
Job
Commentary
on
Chapters 15-29
Robert D. Sacks St. John's College, Santa Fe
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answer such
Should he You have 5 Your
own
FEAR
has taught
mouth
deserted the
and
I,
you, not
have
a wise man even
the east wind? 3
with
grounds of all
your mouth and you
condemns
2 "Should
belly
idle talk that
argue with such useless words and
abandoned
perversion
6 Your
answered and said:
thoughts and fill his own
blustery
4
goes nowhere?
discourse
with
God.1
crafty tongue. lips have testified
chosen a
and your own
against you.
7 Were being2
Why, do
man
('adam)
before the hills? 8 Have
you
not
and
first
you the
have
know
you
set all wisdom aside
or understand
to be
been
for
bom? Did
listening
yourself.
that we are not
able
in
God's
9 What do
to?3
writhing into
you come
on
secret council?
you
know that
we
10 Both the hoary-headed
the aged are among us, more resplendent in days than your father. 11 Are
the compassions of God and His gentle words too meager for you? 12 What
hold
taken
of your
your spirit on
he
mortal that
himself
God
just?5
not clean
heart
and
should
15 He
in His
dredged
be
dazzled4
and so
such words
clean or one
16 And
bom
in His
puts no trust
sight.
your
what of
drinks up injustice like 17 I will show you. Listen to
up
out of your mouth?
of woman that
Holy
has
eyes, 13 that you have turned
Ones
he
14 What is
a
should consider
and even the
heavens
are
that abhorred and corrupted one, man,
water!6
who
thing
which
me!
the wise have reported
This thing have I
seen and will
relate, 18 a
from their fathers and have not withheld. 19 To
them alone has the land been given, and no stranger has gone among them. all his days and the number of his years lies 20 The guilty man writhes in hidden from those who can terrorize. 21 Sounds of fear are always in his ear. pain7
When he is will return wanders
ready like a
at
at ease a robber will
from the darkness,
for bread,
king
set
and
3
of
and
knowing
hand. 24 Narrowness
upon
he is
interpretation, Fall
can
have
no
trust that
ever on guard against a sword.
he
23 He
He knows only that the day of darkness is anguish oppress him. They overwhelm him
and
stretched out
will appear
1997, Vol. 25, No. 1
his hand
against
God,
and
commentary appeared in Volume 24, Numbers in future issues.
chapters of the translation and
Interpretation. The balance
him. 22 He
where.
for battle, 25 for he has
The first fourteen
2
not
fall
4
Interpretation
with
hero
the
played
against the
his thickly-bossed
Almighty. 26 Neck
27 His face is
shield.
down, he
Him
charges against
covered with
fat
and
his haunches
bloated.8
are
28 He dwells in
cities of
for the trash heap. 29 He
last,
not
nor will
his
desolation, in houses
will not
become
rich.
not
What
to be lived in wealth
bound
and
he does have
will
30 He
will
possessions spread themselves over the earth.
his be turned from the darkness, but a flame turned aside by own mouth will dry up his young saplings. 31 Let him not trust in deceitful the breath
not
nothing for his compensation will be 32 He will be finished before his time. His fronds
of
nothing.9
33 but like
green,10
his
a vine
he
cast off
will
cruelly blossoms like the olive, 34 for the
own
will never
his
congregation of
is
the polluted
and the tents of
toil and give
moisty
unripe grapes and reject
bribery are a consuming fire. 35 deceit."" birth to wickedness. Their belly brews
barren place;
turn to
They
a
conceive
Comments 1. For Eliphaz, the FEAR and earlier
he had
called
God is the
grounds of all
and your
hope,
discourse
God,
with
the simplicity of your
to understand the relation between FEAR and speech? Had
ways."
How
of
it "your surety,
are we
very opposite? "Remove Your hand from me, and let not your terror frighten me. Then summon me up and I will reply, or let me speak and You shall give
not
Job
claimed the
answer."
Job
to speak
wishes
means, in effect, to and
wrong,
course
in
of the
which
be heard in
with
abandon
just
God in terms
of the
Job, then,
must
be held in
2. The Revised Standard's "Were
The
is
you
right
human discourse, a dis voice is to be heard, it must
wants
the human voice is heard. If another
It
This
goals.
the concept of perversion in favor of notions of
and the unjust.
another way.
highest human
awe rather than
followed
brought forth before the
by
thought.
hills?"
is
not
very complicated one and we shall hear of it again. A fuller account of it can be found in the note to verse 1 of Chapter 39, but even now we can see that Eliphaz is accusing Job of believing that in anguish good enough.
and pain
he
because he
pulled
a
himself into being, nothing from the
received
his
that he owes
and
past.
He is
no
debt to the
older than the
feet, and the baseness of his origins is his pride He is, in fact, claiming to be wisdom, if not God himself:
stands on
shame.
word
own
Pro. 8:12
I, .
.
.
wisdom, dwell in prudence,
The LORD
acts of old.
and
created me at the
When there
there were no springs
were no
I find knowledge
beginning
depths I
and
past
mountains, and not
his
discretion.
his work, the first of his "brought when
of
was
forth,"
abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was "brought forth";
5
The Book of Job Psa. 90:2
Before the
formed the
forth,"
"brought
mountains were
or ever
thou hadst
from everlasting to everlasting thou
earth and the world,
art
God.
3. He is indeed accusing Job of pretending to know the primordial secret. root rzm is unknown outside of this verse. The Revised Standard has
4. The
do
"Why
flash"
your eyes
but
has "How
Greenberg
your eyes
have failed
you."
The Arabic
among many other things "to be in continual This is the lexicographical foundation for my trans
cognate means,
movement"
"to
or
agitate."
lation.
5. In many
ways
this is Eliphaz's most cutting argument.
commitment to the surface world
limited the horizons sufficiently questions
of
connected
they
be,
that world may
own
Underlying
notion that no matter whatever scraps
to things presently unseen, that
in their
raise
is the
inadequacy, they
by
can
Job's
how narrowly
they
contain are
pursuing them and the
lead beyond themselves
to a wider and more complete understanding of oneself and the world in which one
lives. saying "What has taken hold of your heart and so dazzled your eyes that have turned your spirit on God and dredged such words up out of your Eliphaz admits that Job has not simply and negatively turned him from
By you
mouth,"
God, but that something of human concern has "dazzled his This is, perhaps, Eliphaz's deepest insight into the nature For
a
fuller
explanation of what
Eliphaz has within one
somehow
horizon
I
mean
by
that,
see
the
eyes."
of
human thought.
note to
30:17.
vaguely seen that each man is always caught up What they do not see is a function of its scope.
or another.
The question, then, is whether anything of mere human concern can be of any ultimate concern. "What is a man that he should be clean or one bom of woman that he should
6. Back in
consider
verse
6, Eliphaz had
lips have testified
and your own
For Eliphaz, the himself, is not merely a meant.
an unclean and discourse"
just?"
himself
deeply
is nothing
surface
said, "Your
and now
against
world, the
world
superficial world as corrupted world.
more
own mouth condemns you not
you,"
than to
"fill
it is
clear what
I,
he
to which Job has committed
the other friends had thought,
To take it
otherwise as a
it is
"ground
of
wind."
one's
belly
with
A
the east
Job's arguments, but they can only crafty distract the mind and turn it from realizing its true position. Does Job think that he pulled himself into being? Does he not realize that his tongue may build
twisted view and a
salvation
lies in "the
these "useless
All denial.
men are
compassions of
words and
God
idle talk that
guilty, even His
and
His
words,"
gentle
rather
than in
nowhere?"
goes
Holy Ones,
but Job
more than all
because
of
his
6
Interpretation 7. For
reasons which will
become
in the
clearer
being"
in had been translated "come writhing into as it intends of in "writhes course, Eliphaz, pain."
8. "The guilty man lies hidden from the
writhes
in
his days
pain all
note
to
verse
a
39:1,
translated as
7 is here
bitter play
and
the word which
the
on words.
number of
he had
Eliphaz is thinking of what 7. Man's struggle is not his glory, but his shame. Guilt makes the world and rums his world into a battlefield. Since he has ruthless."
his
years
in
verse
said
man a stranger
to
there
is
home,
no
heroic in that nothing for him to defend with dignity. There is, in fact, nothing struggle to ennoble it, and it transforms him into a beast.
9. To
consider man as the
"trust in deceitful struggle are open
be
can
to be lost in that struggle, since no
behind him, is to the basis of that
other claim
for
legitimacy
for them.
made
10. The
beginning of man with nothing Any gains achieved purely on
nothing."
self-made man
in the
radical sense
can, as such, have no
definite
goal, and hence no sense of fulfillment.
1 1. His argues,
is
gle
the struggle as
sense of
being
the foundation of existence, Eliphaz
at
from thinking in terms It, therefore, degenerates into
prevents man
aiming.
of a goal towards which the struggle
for its
strug
own sake.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
1 Then Job Bringers
as you
and
said:
2 "I have heard
compassion, the
of a toilsome
blustery
such
answered
were you
instead
of me!
I
so much of this
of you! so?'
talk? What ails you that you
do if it
lot
whole
answer me
heap
could
3 Is
stuff.
there no end to
4 I too
could speak
words upon you and shake
my head; 5 strengthen you with my words or hold you in check by the motion of my lips. 6 But when I speak, my pain is not held in check, nor does it subside when
I
quiet.2
am
7 Oh how He has
8 You have
testify
sets
I
shriveled me
against
Foe5
My They
my
He
me.6
to taunt me.
He
shattered me.
set me out as a target.
10
They
my whole and this distortion has risen up to tears at me. He gnashes His teeth.
They
breach
after
He
gape at me with their mouths.
gather en masse against me.
into the hands
grabbed me
13 His bowmen
mercy and spilled my bile breach. He rushed at me as
without
by
of
guilty
11 God men.
12
the neck and shattered
He
cleaved open
out on the ground.
14 He broke
surrounded me.
a
conqueror; 15 I have
I have driven my homs into the dust. 16
sewed
my My face is red weeping and my eyes are covered with shadowy death, 17 though I have injustice on my hands and my prayer is pure.
sackcloth over with
no
as a witness
community.3
wiped out
the wicked to close in on me and casts me
my kidneys me
up
You have
malevolent anger
eyes against
cheeks
was at ease and
me.
9 His
me."
hones his
strike
worn me out!
skin.
The Book of Job 18 Let
7
the earth cover over my blood or
find a place for my outcry. 19 my witness must be in heaven, The one who can testify for me must be on high. 20 Oh my my friends, my eyes weep before God. 21 Will no one argue for a MAN (gebher) before God as a man ('adam) should do For
not
now
advocates,7
for
a
friend?8
22 For
a
few
years will pass
by,
then I shall go the way that I
and
shall not return.
Comments 1. These text. His
words are spoken directly to his friends in full awareness friends were, indeed, to have brought him compassion,
Job 2: 1 1
Now
Job's three friends had heard
when
him, they
come upon
Temanite, Bildad
the
came each
Shuhite,
with one another and planned
show
but the
him
...
of all the evils that
Zophar the Naamatite.
and
had
Eliphaz the
own place
They
conferred
to come together to console him and to
compassion.
compassion was to
Job 3:10
from his
of con
for it
have helped him
closed not the
doors
over the sight of
of
my
mother's
toil.
belly
but hid my
eyes
from toil. Job 3:20
Why
does He
give
light to those
whom toil
has consumed,
or
life to
the bitter of soul?
This is Job's
answer to
Job 15:1
Eliphaz's
Then Eliphaz the Temanite even answer such
blustery
answered and said:
thoughts and
fill his
"Should
own
belly
a wise man
with
the east
wind?"
"What Job
ails you that you answer me
so?"
As it seems, their illness has driven
His friends, Eliphaz and the others, are part the innocent suffer every day, and yet they do see They Job sees a world that cannot see itself. He
mad.
For Job, Eliphaz has become a man who raises himself up by bringing all men,
tempt
for the
The
it
surface
has
sight of a man
rendered
from the
cannot allow
including
of the surface world. not see that
has
see.
himself to be human.
himself down. His
him insensitive to innocent
surface who
they
condemned
con
suffering.
the surface so that
itself, has forced Job to testify against the world for the Job is lost, confused, and angry. He believed in a world that
seems to condemn
sake of the world.
did
not
broken.
believe in itself
and that
had
attacked
him for
doing
so.
Job has been
8
Interpretation 2. This is
powers
a wonderful comment on
they do
not
over the speaker
Job
power
hands,
you who
have
who
longer have their 3. Indicative
way in
which
to take away
had the
of
Eliphaz knows
pain.
words to pick
bolster the knees that
and
no
a power
more
was you who always encouraged and strengthened so
It
but for those
have
and what
than most
himself is true:
says of
Job 4:3-4
They
they have,
over the one spoken to and
both
himself.
Words have the that what
have.
what powers
words,
peered
up
were about to
many frail
those that were stumbling
bend.
behind the curtain, the
is gone,
magic
and words
power.
his
madness throughout
he constantly
this
switches persons
chapter
is
the jagged and abrupt
from third to
the third, and when he uses the second person, it is not
is addressing his friends or God. God, his effects, him have, come all of a jumble into Job's mind.
second and
back to
always clear whether
and the effect
that
he
belief in
in any human court or a divine court Job knows that, but has been worn out. working There is that infinite wheel of suffering that brings feelings of guilt and feelings of guilt that bring suffering. In defending himself against a world of charges, 4. His defense
would stand
Job feels himself charges.
being
Once he is
5. Or
him
intelligible to
under rules
well
man.
into the
sucked more and more
captured
by
world
that makes those
that world, his defense begins to melt. See note to Job hones its eyes against me?"
"my
narrow constraint
6:23. This ambiguity is
key
to understanding the
kind
of madness one sees
in Job
feels an angry world pressing himself begins to feel small, petty,
throughout the remainder of the chapter. Job
down
upon
him, constricting his
view
till he
guilty of believing that his world could be other. 6. What a telling way of expressing the way in sharpen itself by its own act of cutting. and
7. Some translate
See
note
"My friends
scorn me:
my
which an
angry
eye can
eye pours out tears to
God."
to 33:22.
8. Job's
anger
is
gone
now, but not his madness. Rejected
now
by both
earth
heaven, but still convinced of his own innocence, he makes an appeal to both, expecting help from neither. Somewhere God must have the evidence, and and
man, as a solid
friend trusting in both Job
and
in
himself,
must
find it
out.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
1
for
"My
spirit
me now.
discontent.
2
has been destroyed
Mocking
and
my days
snuffed out.
men are always about me and
my
The
eye
grave
lives
is ready
under their
9
The Book of Job
3. Put up now, go my surety. Who will be the one to take my hand on it?1 4 So, You have protected their hearts from insight, and that is why even You no longer have any respect for 5 Why, he would even turn in a friend to get them.2
his cut, but the eyes of his children will 6 He has made a folk adage of me, and I've become comprehend.3
blind from indignation
eyes are
The
by
upright are appalled
form
but
appears to me
of
Old. 7
My
as shadows.
8
that. The pure raise up against such impiety. 9 The
hold tight to their
righteous
and all
Tophet4
as
ways and the
man
hands
of clean
adds
to his
strength.5
10 Let them 11 heart
My days
all pass
have 12
possess.
by
passed
They
in
on
by.
review.
My
day
you.6
no wise man
among
have been snapped, all that my it is night and in the face of
ambitions
it is
claim
No, I find when
darkness they say that light is 13 If I must take the Pit to be my home, and spread out my couch in darkness; 14 call out to the muck "Thou art my near.7
Father'
and call out
'Mother'
'Sister'
and
to the maggots, 15
hope? Oh my hopes, who will ever take note of them? 16 down into the Pit and together they lie in the dust."8
where
They
then is my
have
all sunk
Comments 1. Chapter 17 is
a continuation of the scene which
the last chapter. Job
had
asked
for
After all, he argued, he and his and will "not
a
man,
one of
strange ways of
began
around verse
18
of
his friends, to be his
advocate.
by
in "a few
thinking
will pass
return."
years"
.
.
.
Their answer,
and
If nothing remains, then nothing will remain. Job's initial reaction to it, become clear from verses 1 and 2.
Then, in verse 3, we are to imagine Job, a smile slowly brighten his face, going over to each in turn with an outstretched hand. up But in verse 4 it becomes clear that no one had moved a muscle or returned
He is
rejected.
ing his
smile.
Then Job
must
have
raised a
half-angry, half-knowing
eye toward
heaven. 2. God, according to Job, has misjudged men. The wisdom that He has down to them via the Fathers has so closed them off from the surface
passed
that even the wisdom He gave them has become useless.
3. taknlennah: The Revised Standard, "The
Greenberg, "The foundation the
eyes of
"all"
or of
notion of
or
all,"
but
"to be
as
either
interpretation is
reference
is to
children will
As
a verb
it
taken
it in
the
root
klh has
fail": as
can mean either
expression
its "to
"Papa is
former sense, they in the latter,
reasonable.
quite unclear at
one of
"a
whole."
in the Pennsylvania Dutch
i.e., Papa is dead. We have
4. The text is
his The
children will pine
complete" all,"
be
eyes of
away."
his
this point,
but if the translation is correct, the
the valleys below the walls of Jerusalem.
10
Interpretation Jer. 7:31-32
And they have built the high
place of
Topheth,
which
is in the
daughters valley of the son of Hinnom, into come it did nor in the fire; which I did not command, my mind. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when to burn their
it
will no more
Hinnom, but
be
Topheth,
the valley of
because there is 2Kings 23:10
called
valley
Slaughter: for they
their
of the son of
will
in Topheth,
bury
no room elsewhere.
And he defiled Topheth,
Hinnom,
or the
sons and
that no one
might
is in the valley of the sons of burn his son or his daughter as an which
offering to Molech. and
it did, indeed become
Isa. 19:12-13
Thus
a
kind
will
byword:
of
I do to this place,
says the
Lord,
and to
its inhabitants,
city like Topheth. The houses of Jerusalem and the the kings of Judah all the houses upon whose roofs
this
making houses of
incense has been burned offerings
have been
the place of
5. Job rest of
its
must
to all the
host
of
heaven,
poured out to other gods
and
shall
drink
be defiled like
Topheth.
have been thinking: "The others, Eliphaz and Zophar and the they all live in what seems to them to be a single world. It has
mankind,
ways and
its forms.
They
share an outward cast of
sanity
which
they
main
to it tightly; but for me, poor man, the molds are cracked and form begins to melt inner sanity cannot 6. Job, in a crazed vision, sees himself as a general, with the whole world marching past him on review in uniform. tain
by holding
hold."
when outward
7. This is how they do it. Their undergoes a constant
Night is
called
are
day. Innocent is
called
molds are never cracked
transmutation
and
called
deformation
guilty, and
till it
because the
fits the
surface
mold exactly.
pains which should
be faced
temporary.
eternally 8. As in Gresham's Law, false hopes drive out the true. We do not know yet exactiy what Job's hopes for himself and perhaps for the whole of mankind We only know that they are incompatible with the notion that man is a The best one can do for now is to say that the notion of man as a maggot seems to be equivalent to the total denial of the ultimate relevance of were.
maggot.
the surface as it appears to man.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
1 Then Bildad these traps
in
considered
beasts
2 "How long will you continue to set to understand and then we will speak. 3 are we
answered and said:
speech?
Try
and made unclean
in
Why
your eyes?
4 You,
you who
tear yourself
11
The Book of Job in anger, Is the
apart
from its
5 The light around
A
be
the wicked
of
his fire. 6 Light his
stride of own
earth to
feet
lead him into
snare will grab
him
by
disaster is headed
first bom
a
net,
Brimstone is
his branches
and
no
heir
or
scion,
12 His
13 His
from
he
have
and
trip him up, 8 for his himself right into the trap. 9
path.
him. 10 His
vigor will
skin will
be
appointed
11 Terror falls
will
torn
be
upon
know
him
starvation:
away; death's
eaten
from his
tent of safety Terror. 15 It takes up lodging in his tent unin over his hut. 16 His roots will be dried up from
parched
and
from light into darkness
at odds.
14 He
fail him. 7 The
candle will
tighten about
his
ribs.
no glow
of
scattered
be lost from the land
will walk
a web
be
plans will
snare on
members.
King
and marched off to the
beneath,
for his
his
he
and
heel,
the
straight
will consume
smothered and there will
be hobbled. His
lies hidden in the ground, a from everywhere sending his feet
be
dislodged
your sake? or the rock
turn dark in his tent. His
will
perversion will
will
be
will
rope
vited.
for
abandoned
place?1
will
above.
17 All
driven from this fruitful left in
not a shred
recollection of
18 He
no name abroad. orb.
his haunts. 20
all
will
him
19 For him there
They
will
be thrust will
of the west are
by his days, and they of the east are seized by confusion. 21 These are God."2 indeed the dwellings of the unjust for this is the place that knew not
horrified
Comments 1. We
remember
compassion
8:1 Iff.). Here with
that
was
neither a
Bildad
reed
verses should
beast
who showed a certain
kind
he ultimately had to
which
the same patience and understanding
again we see
Job. These four
least, is
it
for the tender
be
sufficient
We
nor unclean.
must
of genuine
condemn
(cf.
in his dealings
Bildad,
to assure us that
at
take his implicit advice to Job
with great seriousness.
Let
the anger? Can he achieve
Bildad rock
is something to what Job is saying. Is it worth all anything beyond tearing himself apart? What does "Is the earth to be abandoned for your sake? or the
us suppose that there
mean when
he
says
dislodged from its
Did he mean, "Job,
place?"
you are
There
too quick
asking for. If God
many things he could have meant. and have not sufficiently considered
are so
suddenly to change the whole world just deserts, how many others of that would have to suffer unreservedly because Or he may have had in mind the time back in 14:18 when Job had said, "A the
you are
thing
to make
it
conform
were
exactly to your admittedly
change?"
mountain
the
was
the
has fallen
moment when
surface again as
does
and crumbled
not come
in
a
Job
if for
woke
the
flash. A
away, a
rock
dislodged from its
from his false dream
place."
That
confronted
and
suddenly first time. Perhaps Bildad is saying that
sudden confrontation with
turn out to be as deceptive as any old
wives'
wisdom
the surface could itself
tale. Horrors
loom
out
in
dispro-
12
Interpretation
portion; goods may be taken for granted
time, may indeed be
required
for
Time,
and overlooked.
generations of
back to
a tradition to pull our perceptions
reality.
Or his question, "Is the earth to be abandoned for your sake? or the rock thoughts. If dislodged from its may have been a response to Job's last so, what are we to think of all his hopes? Suppose that he and all men were free to work toward them on their own. Could they really pull it off? Would things place?"
really be better? In the remainder his reasons for believing that it is 2. It is "God"
final but
even
of
his
will
we
as
likely.
not
not appear as an actor.
have lines like "The light
indicative
glow around
his
fire"
in
a
be hobbled. His net,
and
he
be
of the wicked will
which no
direct
plans will
will walk right
trip him up for his into the
trap."
these that will naturally
lead them to their
that knows not
place
own
destruction,
own
Isn't it
into
that Job's high hopes for man will translate themselves
is in "a
smothered and
is given; or even lines like "The stride
cause
of the tenor of the passage as a whole are
perversion will
lead him into
likely
to articulate
our
there, God does
there will be no more
will go on
not occur
word of
Instead,
his speech, Bildad
understanding of the argument to note that the word in Bildad's speech until the very end. It is, in fact, the the last verse, and therein lies the whole of its rhetorical value;
critical
does
for
of
feet
more
"plans"
such
given man as
he
God?"
CHAPTER NINETEEN
1 Then Job
answered and said:
2 "How
long
will you
torment my spirit and
3 How many times you have humiliated harsh towards me? 4 Even if I have
crush me with words? no shame
lodge
to be so
within
me, 5
but, if
encircled me with
I cry out, but there is cannot pass
through.3
His
has
perverted
scream
you
feel
to
prove
my
me.2
'Violence'
but I get judgment. 8 He has barred the
net.
no place of
He has
I
who
Do
that error must
you must place yourselves above me
disgrace, 6 know that it is God Himself 7 He has
me!
erred,1
no answer. road and
I
my path with darkness, 9 stripped all head.4 glory from me, and removed the crown from my 10 He tears at me from all sides round and so I retreat. He uproots my hopes like a tree. 11 His anger bums against me, and He accounts me as one of his foes. 12 Together, His troops advance. They erect a toward me and covered
highway
encamp round about my tent. 13 He made my brothers withdraw from me, and of my friends He has made strangers. 14 Those who were close to me have left; and those who knew me have all forgotten. 15 Those who lived in my house and the women who served
me account me an alien and
I
called
to my
servant,5
to them I
but he
gave no
have become answer,
no more
than
and now must
a stranger.
16
I curry to him for
The Book of Job favor. 17
My breath
is
children
against me.
19 All those
have turned
against me.
the
skin of
21 Be
teeth6
gentle with
22
struck me.
My
bones
to me abhor
stick to
my
me and those
skin and
I loved
to my flesh.
Only
hold.7
to
friends, be gentle, for the hand of God has like God, taking satisfaction out of my
me, you, my
do
Why
who were closest
20
ceases
my
my wife, and to the sons of my own belly I have contempt for me. When I rise, they speak
repulsive to
loathsome. 18 Even
am
13
you pursue me
flesh? 23 Who will find a place that my words may be written down? Who will see it that they are inscribed in the Book.8 24 With stylus of iron and with lead incised in The Rock forever?9 25 Yet I know lives and that my to
vindicator10
one
day
he
will stand
26 Even
after
I behold
shall
my
God."
8 You have
has been
27 It is I
'How
the dust.
upon
stranger,12
those of a
and not
up
skin
stripped
away,
yet
myself who shall see.
from
My
out of
raw
my
own eyes must
flesh
behold,
the vitals within my bosom are finished.
although
him?'
The root of the matter, they persecuting say, lies within me. 29 But, stand in terror of the sword, for fury is a perversion judgment."13 meet for the sword, that you may know that there is said
are we
Comments 1. The word used implies a wrong done inadvertently. 2. In the last chapter, Bildad had said, "The stride of his
hobbled":
and
sion meet
for the
and
later in this chapter, Job
will admit
be
perversion will
that "indignation is a perver
sword."
Job is angry because he knows that Bildad is right, right because he knows of that anger. Behind
he knows that Bildad is
Bildad is the ever,
sober notion
men who are not
perversion
3. The related
God has
anger
are closed and
and yet
head,
other.
my path from my
covered
Job, how error
perverting
into
oneself
living
in two
There is only
have been
a
is closely in the one
worlds
that are open and beckon enough room
for
a scream.
has its rightful claim,
for judgment.
with
head."
have been bom into
all of which
By
turns into anger. Each world
neutral ground
removed the crown seem to
finding
freedom. Roads
forbidden in the
there is no
help being
angry.
perverted man.
cannot move
4. "He has
cannot
that arises out of
to the problem of
Motion that
that angry men cannot be free men. For
free
darkness, stripped all glory from me, and To Job, he, and perhaps all men, almost
bright
stripped
and glorious
path,
from him. Man
with a crown on
was
bom into
his
a single
world, a bright and open surface in which the paths were open and action was possible
Now
his first
in
spite of all
we can
the random harshness of
begin to
speech when
disease
and
famine.
get a somewhat clearer picture of what
he said,
"May
the
day
of
my birth
rest
Job
meant
in oblivion,
in
and
14
Interpretation
with
it
of
.
.
but let darkness
.
my mother's womb but hid my It was not an ugly day. Job had
from
eyes
the gates
rise
gave
be dashed. teeth."
by
escaped
the skin of my
rect, but I am not sure that the Hebrew
has
hard
and
his skin,
teeth are
7. Job is
loved have other, and
gone
was at open
away.
Even the breath that
least
before
surface, the
of the
no
one man who
his
did in fact
not
he
has become
replaced the
The
world of
distinction the surface
seen will always
will
word
be
no place
is from the
from
to be aware of the fact that there that place. The Book of Job lies
be there to be
Job has
for
will see
to
sees as
Job
not
It is further implied that
having
experienced.
read the
The
book,
are
"other"
will change all
that radically.
anger.
the word translated
"redeem"
appears to come
to write
in
in 3:5. answer
may be written down? inscribed in the Book. With stylus of iron and words
forever?"
vindicator the one who will come
enough
nev
mere awareness
lives"
it that they
his
seen.
seen after
same root as
lead incised in the Rock
deeply
the surface farther
something to be set down for all time, although he that they will ever be read. It is implied, however, that
statement
1 1. We
but
pushed
"I know that my vindicator "Who will find a place that to his question, my
stand
the self
him.
provide
will not experience what
For him there
Job
and those whom
words as
no assurance
Job has
10. The
all
disease, has
that there once was another who was
with
in the
us.
ertheless, he
Who
other point
longer believes in Job, partly because he it.
it is hard
anyone should ever see what
Job's
escapes
of the ages.
wisdom
own skin pulls tighter round
sees
have
has
self and other
and the
one reads this verse,
whatever
his
that surface, but mainly because he was the one who believed in
his
9. Job
any
himself. Disease has drawn closer,
surface
The harshness 8. As
outside than at
within
longer believes in itself,
a part of
and
from the
farther
The distinction between
him,
and
out.
makes others of others.
between the which no
and comfortably,
that
means
has become
fit tight, have lost their grip,
which should
now more estranged
He is left
poem.
are cor
the English expres
James. I believe he
King fit loosely
which should
tight, his gums, beginning to fall
Literally they
words mean what
to mean since the days of
come
while most of
if
closed not
or
6. Others: "I have
can
for it
"slave"
5.
is
.
.
.
toil."
it because, in its beauties, it
cursed
to all those hopes which were soon to
sion
it
and gloom salvage
down his
must examine more
tale
for
along
one
day
and under
others to read. "skin"
has been playing and closely the role that will continue to play throughout the book as a whole. Whether it has anything to do with the boils or not we do know, but it is clear that the seat of the disease is his
skin:
The Book of Job Job 7:5
My skin has become hard and begins to ooze. My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. Only
Job 19:20
the skin of
15
my
teeth ceases to hold.
Job 19:26
Even
flesh Job 30:30
My
skin turned
In his dream
black
and
is
stripped
now
away,
yet
from
off me;
peeling
out of
my
my bones
are
raw
the heat.
by
scorched
God
my skin has been I behold God.
after
shall
it
of the past
things for
was one of the
which
he
remembered
fondly.
most
Job 10:1 1
With
skin and
flesh You
clothed me and
knit
me together with
bones
and sinews.
It
Bildad's
was also
Job 18:13
His
prime example.
be
skin will
away; death's first born will consume his
eaten
members.
We have trable
by
yet
Leviathan, but
to meet the
as we can
see, he has
skin
impene
man.
Job 41:31
Can
fill his hide (skin)
you
with
harpoons,
or
his head
with
fishing
spears?
Skin is that thin film
of protection
even the most gentle and pleasant
Job
at this
world, Job
"came cused
point, every exposed
out of
Zophar
his of
other
himself,
When it is gone,
a source of
pain,
and
for
In opening himself up to the surface left himself even more naked than when he
other.
and
belly"
mother's
self and other.
become
can
and showed that courage which
he had
ac
lacking.
The Satan had
said
skin!"
"skin beneath
skin of self-interest under
the Satan will have lost
behind his
is
between
breeze
his
According
skin of openness.
his bet because Job
will
to
him, Job had
a
thick
If Job does live up to this verse, have proved that he has no skin
skin.
12. For the first time in the book
we see an
importance that
"seeing"
and
especially "seeing for himself is beginning to have for Job. For the moment, at least, he has started to feel that all of the anger and confusion might stem from the fact that he
heard the
has
seen
world of wisdom with
13. It surely looks
ing
from the
either
the surface with his own eyes, whereas he has
quite
mouth of
the
hearing
impossible to say
Job
been transposed from
at this time.
of
what
Many
somewhere else
his
only
ears.
this verse could mean com
people think that the verse
in the poem,
or
has
has been terribly
Interpretation
16
All this
garbled.
claim that
his
present commentator would not
The
and more are possible.
to have demonstrated the
arguments are so cogent as
believes that he has the Book
the text. Anyone who
of
Job,
integrity
translation or
of
text,
help is sadly mistaken. In despair, I thought it best to follow the received text as assiduously as I could in hopes of traveling vaguely in the direction intended by the author divine
short of
false
than to second guess the text with a
rather
sense of security.
CHAPTER TWENTY
1 Then Zophar the Naamatite have
would
me
the admonition of
have
for
all
answer;
own
my
feeling
a
said, 2 "It is my disquietude that
answered and
shame;
that
lies
me, 3 for I
within
a spirit out of
my
own
hear
seem to
understanding
would
reply.1
me
4 Do
know this, that from timeless time,
you
since man
('adam)
was set
the guilty has been quick, and the delight of the 6 Though his loftiness rise to the heavens, his head reaching to the clouds, 7 like his own dung he will be lost in eternity. Even 8 He flies off as a dream and no one those who see him will ask 'Where is earth, 5 the
upon the
defiled but
joy
of
moment.2
of a
he?'
can
find him. He
him have
given
10 His
o'er;
full
are
they
of
a vision of
no even
find favor
sons
His bones
like
recedes
night.
vigor, yet
they lie
eyes that observed
him in his
hands
return
place.3
his
wealth.4
him in the dust. 12 Though
with
11
evil
his tongue, 13 cherish it, never bring abandon it, but retain it on his palate, 14 the bread in his bowels will become the gall of an asp within him. 15 He devours wealth only to vomit it back, for sweetness to
God has
seized
the tongue of a
17 He
full
house, poor.
of
out of
20 Since he knew
shall endure.
The hand send out
burning
bowels. 24 He made of
will
be
all
the remnant left in
his
upon
flee the
will
his
will
needs are
bring
no
of
honey
and
Oh, he
butter.6
him
through
26 The
consumed9
tent.
and rain
joy. 19 He may
steal a
will
about to
down
feel hard
shall merit
pressed.7
fill his belly, God will him even to his very
upon
iron only to be overturned by a bow body it goes, lightning swift into the
his
whole of
by
18
will receive
crushed and abandoned the
fulfilled he
him. 23 As he is
machine of
and
him.8
be
brooks
from his belly, nothing dear to him survivor to enjoy it and thus nothing of his
no
brass. 25 Drawn,
his treasures. He
or
it to flourish for he has
anger upon
gall, and terror strikes
the poison of asps and
no peace
22 Though
of toil will
His
be
will
will suck
shall return and never consume.
cannot cause
escape; 21 there
rivers,
his labors but it
compensation of
but he
his belly. 16 He
slay the streams, the
his labors he
under
him.5
viper will
shall not see
The fruit the
it from
and
he hide it
9 The
note of
the poor and their
with
his lips
the
longer take
darkness has been stored up to be fire and all shall go ill with
an unblown
27 The heavens
will unveil
his
perversion,10
and the
The Book of Job earth shall
rise up
against
trickled away on the
('adam);
man
day
him. 28 The harvest His
of
will
17
be unveiled,
portion of the wicked
God."12
by
the
word
makes no attempt to refute
Job
or even
an
lands"
29 Such is the
wrath.
inheritance left him
his
of
-
Comments 1
Zophar
.
Instead, he gently suggests an alternative to found within himself. It's more like
"seeing
"hearing"
not
hearing
the
might call
It does
deeply
it
the others spoke of
kind
a
not arise
internal
of
for
"hearing
from the
hearing
the
disagree
for
This
blame him.
or
he has
oneself which "seeing."
it is like
fathers. One
the
wisdom of
Yet it is
oneself."
surface of an external world,
sense of shame that
nition and understanding.
than
to
but
comes
from
breaks down the distinction between
new
reshapes and gives
understanding
a
admo
meaning
to the surface.
2. The
superficial world
itself. Although it takes own
future. As
does
not bring along with it an understanding of in time, it can reveal neither its own past or its from Zophar's first speech, the daily events which
place
we remember
take place on the simple plane of the surface world are, in
interconnections
that their
are well
beyond the
realm of
fact,
so complicated
human ken.
searching out a deeper understanding of wickedness and of joy in themselves, do we come to realize that they cannot live together for long.
Only by
3. Chances
heaven. He he
as a
be
breathe
and
bolt
part of
connection with
himself. Even
will strike at
to take up space,
any man's world. They human being. As he loses connection
ceases to
him
lightning
are good that no
continues to
no
but,
him from
longer treat him
with
out of
he may be,
great as
or recognize
others, he loses
all sense of
world, in order to exist, must be recog
a surface
nized as such.
4. If
live
whatever
knowing
that all will be as
5. "His bones in his bowels world
is
not
for
he has done is
are
will
merely
if he had
of vigor yet
become the
someone. a
full
inevitably
to
not
they lie
must also
be
receiving it. Job's allegedly has turned into the gall of an asp.
6. Zophar,
of
course,
means
that
he
must
man can
"see for himself,
cally depends upon that brooks of honey and
with
his
have
all
must
...
the bread
be
world must well.
be
must
The
a
world
by
received
a
has been ill-digested
right past them without ever
listening"
says
that what Job or
eyes"
this surface world
own
self and upon those eyes.
butter"
The
be digested
To be, it
look
noticing them or their beauty. The "world of any
him in the dust
within
surface world
will
his own, he
been. with
a received.
soul capable of and
by
undone
him."
gall of an
asp For bread to be bread, it
given, it
be
faded
out of
"The streams, the
his
vision so
radi
rivers,
and
that he scarcely
18
Interpretation
sees them and will never remember
he is
world as
Zophar's 18
and
7. This
he
what all
have been
could
live in
his
hear,
to see, or to
8. A
someone
itself. The
in anger, but
of
his
words of verses
16
little
no one while
in
justice for Zophar. Job may be
no one
of, and our reactions
voices of others
anger
in
right
actually lives in such a world. We to that world. His inner voice tells will not allow
voices
greedy, angry
them
to enjoy the world around them.
or
everything in it wears a mask of terror. Job does his world is full of horrors, because he is full of anger.
joy
world without
listen for beauty;
not
by
world, but
surface
our graspings
him that the inner
said
be the foundation
seems to
a part of
are as
the things he points out in verse 17.
noticed
says of
they
the world of other men.
a part of
speech reveals and even exemplifies
have
would
them. In short,
and
"eaten"
9.
10. In
itself in
way, Job is right. Perversion is
a
a surface world.
heavens do
We
cannot see
not the sort of
it
feel its
or
thing
which reveals
If the
effects upon us.
it bare for Job, the rising of the earth will appear as un unblown fire. Job's anger has its roots in his view of the world.
lay
not
caused as an
"house"
11.
12. Loneliness
and
fear
ultimately drive him to lay bare his perversion,
will
on
the surface "The heavens
up
against
will
such actions that even and the earth shall
rise
him."
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
1 Then Job
you
answered and said:
compassion.1
your
may
mock.
spirit not worn
3 Bear
4 Is my itself
2 "Listen
with me while
5 Turn to
6 When I remember, I
your mouth.
me and
am
filled
let
be
that
I have spoken, then (adamfl If it were, why has my
complaint against man
out?2
to my words, and
well
I speak,
and after
be
appalled.
Clap
your
hand to
terror and a palsy grips my
with
flesh. 7
Why do the wicked live on, ancient, yet heroic in power, their seed firmly 8 their progeny spread out before their eyes? 9 Their by their side,3
established
homes
are at
peace,
Their bull breeds miscarry.
11
They
strike4
up
13
with
They
without
and
is
fear, for
not rejected.
set their
babes free
tumbrel and with
spend their
days in
lute
the stave of
His as
cow
God is
drops her
calf with never a
sheep; their children dance. 12
and rejoice
good cheer and
to the strains
in
peace
10
not upon them.
of a
They
pipe.5
they descend into
the
Pit. 14
say to God: 'Turn away from us. We have no desire to know your 15 'What is this Almighty that we should serve him? How shall we if we do come to terms with 16 Is not good fortune in the palm of
They
ways.'
profit
their
hand?6
Him?'
Though
such counsel of the wicked
is beyond me, 17 how
often
is
The Book of Job it that the how
lamp
of
the wicked is put out, or that calamities come
does He
often
allot them pain
the wind, or as chaff that the storm
in His has
18 Are they
anger?
made off
19
-
them, or before
upon
as straw
with?7
19 God,
you say, will treasure up all his wickedness to lay upon his sons? let Him complete the bargain now and then shall he learn. 20 Let his Why then, fury:8 eyes see his own ruin and let him drink of the Almighty's cruet of 21 for what
does he
months
for his house
care
has been
cut
after
he has gone,
and the number of
his
off.9
22 Would he teach understanding high?
even to that
God
who can
judge those
who
are on
23 One dies in the (height of) his simplicity wholly at ease and secure. 24 His skin is sleek; the marrow of his bones still moist. 25 Another dies in the bitterness
of
in the dust,
his soul,
never
having
and the worms cover
eaten of
goodness, 26
yet together
they lie
them over.
27 Oh, I know what you are thinking, the machination you have devised against me. 28 For you say, 'Where is the house of this prince? where is this tent, this
by, but
no sign
day
the
on
dwelling of
place of the evil
have
you ever recognized
34 How, then full of
him
will
be
passer
every is
can make
spared
him face his
who will
brought to the grave, they will set a vigil over Everyone10 wadi will fall sweetly upon him. will those who precede
of
wicked man
repay him? 32 When he is his tomb. 33 The clods of the
done now,
are
30 because the
from the frenzy. 31 Who
rescued
calamity,
Well, his deeds
ways?
29 You have inquired
ones?'
march
along
after
him,
and
number."
without
can you offer me such
empty
compassion when your answers
treachery?"
remain
Comments 1. Job begins by appealing to Zophar's sense of hearing. 2. For Job, Zophar is right. A man cannot live on hatred for his fellow man. His spirit would wear itself out. But Job can see beauty in man and in the world.
We know that; he
against all that surface to make
beauty it fit
saw
it
a plan rather than
believing
loves
himself to be
man although
3. The
wicked
a
not
disappear
contrary, they become the main poets. Start with Romulus and nations commit
is
was
bom. His
unpleasant
man
by
complaint
to meet that world as
not the one who
is
contorting the
is angry
it is,
with man
maggot; the true misanthropist is the one who
he believes that
do
that
allowing
standing on his own two feet. In Job's mind, the tme misanthropist is
for
he
day
on the
which obscures all
man or
is in fact
subject of go on
a maggot.
fade from the
minds of men.
On the
the historian and are glorified
from there. When
horrible crimes, it is the deed
and not
the
founders
the man that is
by
the
of great
forgotten.
20
as
Interpretation 4.
"raise"
5.
"Why
do the
wicked
are, have not
they
fully
live
perceptive
?"
For Job, Zophar's remarks, faced the question because he has not fully faced the on.
.
his understanding of a part has obscured the whole. To that it. extent, he has contorted the surface in order to allow himself to look at In the 6. Greenberg translates: "Their happiness is not their own
world.
The depth
of
doing."
Book
Job it is
of
negatively
often
difficult to distinguish
worded rhetorical question
in English, implies
as
which,
statement
a negative
a
from
a
strongly
For example, "Is that not strongly implies that it of the Book of Job often leaves it up to the reader to so?"
worded positive answer.
is
so.
But the
author
distinguish between "Is throughout the
problem
as
best
as
I do.
as
he
7. What
can.
that not
"That is
so?"
and
whole of
book,
the
The Revised Standard in the last
was said
so!"
and each
King
and
It is
not
James have
to verses
note also applies
a
very
common
translator must deal with it the same
about
16-19,
and
transla
tions differ greatly.
8. I have taken means
hearing
umehamat as
anger,"
"from
the word
umehemet
Job 20:26
be
whole of
by
left in his
the earth shall rise
Zophar's fires is both not seem
notion that
Zophar had
If
first
said
stored
fire
The heavens
against
divine justice
unwise and unjust.
Fundamentally it help also
one cannot
flask."
an unblown
tent.
up
on words. "drink"
a
darkness has been
consumed
remnant
play
culmination of the
answer to what
The will
of
the word
with
"and from
9. Verses 19 through 21, the intended to be Job's
kind
a
but together
part of
to
Job's speech,
him in his last
are
speech.
up to be his treasures. He ill with the
and all shall go will
lay
bare his perversion,
and
him.
works
punishment
in
unseen ways and
is
not related to the
to be related to the crime, and then no matter
how
by
unblown
crime, it
much our
will
demands
for justice may have been met, the one who is punished will have learned nothing. This roundabout justice is also unjust because too many innocent peo ple get hurt the way. It be enough for him to see his along may offspring "strike up with tumbrel and with lute and rejoice to the strains of a when pipe"
they
were children and under
his care, but when in later life they the pieces, he may neither know nor care. 10.
all man
him
For will
you
be
left to
pick
up
('adam)
11. Oh, I know me.
are
what you are
thinking,
say "Where is the house without
the machination you have
of
this prince?
...
and
devised
against
those who precede
number."
This, clearly is not an easy passage to understand. So far as I can understand thinking of a case in which everyone knows that somewhere in the
Job is
past
The Book of Job something horrible happened; but in
order
live
to
with the
they have
surface,
transformed the past that no one remembers who, or what, or when, and all returned to peace and
21 so
has
tranquility.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite of
act
to his
use
any
does it
justly
your ways
God
give the
become
FEAR that He has evil.
Are there
brothers You've
on a
answered and said:
as a prudent man can
any kind
Almighty 4 Do
simple?
bounds to
of pleasure?
Does He
a
flood
of waters
12 Is off
not
crushed.
sudden, 11
you of a
has
it is. 13 And
strolls round
time?3
'Leave who
or
darkness
Only
be!'
us
How
can
filled their houses
Him
15 Have
have trod, 16 off in a
Almighty
utmost star.
He
can see
kept to that
withheld favored1
see, and
See how far
nothing
as
He
primordial path
up before say to God it 18 when it was He
men who were snatched stream.
good?4
of
it
righteous see
not our
and
you
do any thing
kinds
with all
guilty is beyond me, 19 the
The
God know? Can He judge from
much can
obscure
heaven.'
the
have
you arms.
so that you cannot
look to the
Their foundation flows
derision, 20 saying 'Has
by
'How
14 'Clouds
which the men of wickedness
you
sent
mist?'
the circuit of
you are
over.2
covered you
so you say:
of your
away empty, and the arms of the 10 And for that you have been surrounded by
widow you
God high in the heavens?
behind that thick
their
have
you
profit when
the naked you've stripped away. 7
for the weary to drink, and bread from the hungry. 8 And so the land goes to the man of
snares, fear strikes
(gebher) be
6 You have impounded
your perversions?
given no water
occupy it, 9 but the fatherless have been
a man
friend? 3 When
to a
really think that it is because hauled you up for judgment? 5 Oh,
and whatever clothed
whim,
2 "Can
of use
you
rebuked you and
no
be
and
17 Those about
who
Though the
counsel of
rejoice; the innocent
enemy been destroyed,
the
show
their remains consumed
fire?'5
to6
21 Please, come close Him and be your way. 22 Receive guidance from His heart. 23 If far from
you will return
to the
at peace.
All
mouth and
Almighty
and
good things will come
keep
His saying in your you keep injustice
be rebuilt, if
tent, 24 take gold dust as sand and nuggets as rocks in a stream, 25 The Almighty will be your gold and most precious silver, 26 for then you shall
If
your
take delight in the
you supplicate to
vows. path.
28 Proclaim
Him, He
up unto God. 27 have fulfilled your
and raise your countenance
will
your words and
low
hear you, thus
it
and you will
shall
be. A light
will shine upon your
say '(it is their) audacity'! But He the humbled. 30 Even the guilty He will deliver; they will be deliv
29 When
will save
Almighty
men
ered through the
have
purity
sunk
of your
you will
hands."7
22
Interpretation Comments 1. "those
2. One what
countenance"
of raised
Eliphaz's
reads
know,
we
1,
ter
in Chapter 29, Job
and
....
for
no one else
It
hardly
perhaps around
Job
it blessed me;
and
had
an eye
seen and
it approved,
him. The blessings
of
those who had been lost came to me, and
help
a coat or a
heart
and often
I
I
if
we are
speech as
lying
him. We have
or
and
it
eyes
and
feet to the lame. I
no
way
judgment, to the blind,
would search out a case
speaking
of
for
a man whom
different
opened
really knowing. We
Job deserved everything that happened, tempest in a teapot.
A just
cause
was a
I did
not
prey from his teeth.
the same man. Perhaps one should
to a very
never
of
covered me.
of the unjust and wrest the
belonging had
out, and an orphan when there was
put on
break the jaw
seems as
was
sing.
hat. I became
would
discount God's
Chap
cried
to
know. I
torrent of
for it in
he
father to the needy, even
sudden
word
saved a poor man when
made the widow's
fit like
have God's
From
say.
says:
had heard
an ear
because I had I
to be quite undeserved. We
to
what
quite
to know of Job's character, this
or seem
accusations appears
knowing
speech without
can
his
strain of the story.
Or
eyes to the surface world
only say that if it is the case, book is nothing but a
and the whole
Another possibility is that Eliphaz was frightened by what Job said. The seeing a just man suffer may have so threatened to pull his world apart that he called the just man unjust and was at ease. thought of
Or stood.
he is
Eliphaz
perhaps
Let
us suppose
clothed a
hundred
always another
has
an
infinite
was
right in
a
hill
not climbed: and each
number of effects
human
require what no
which
that Job climbed a
naked men.
hill,
way in
Job could not have under hundred hills, and that in each valley The surface world is a finite world, and there a
in the infinite
finite
world.
act
in that finite
world
Justice, for Eliphaz, may
can perform.
3. What Job proposes, this surface world, is
not new.
It would, in fact
come
to nothing more than a return to pagan times when the sun was thought to god and the bringer of all warmth and but
sustenance,
felt then between the divine ble. or
4. Eliphaz
his
seems to
surface world
be trying to
implies that there
itself. The only thing in the concerns
itself,
and morality.
5. When things
go
be
Human life
badly
bad
for them,
relationship
be
a
was seen
was short and unsta
Job into seeing that the finitude no universal standard
visible world above man
shines on good and
are other causes.
needle can
no
of
justice beyond
is the sun, which,
as
far
as
alike.
however,
the
righteous know that there
The Book of Job 6. This is in
play on words. It is the same A man cannot "be of use to
a
verse one.
word
23 to"
that was translated "of use
God,"
but he
close"
"come
can
to
God. 7. These his
Eliphaz's last
words.
With them he
it is. Gold dust is
what
But if
are guilty.
dust,
gold
"rebuilt"
is
a man
is
a world
in
give
up
which each
nuggets, and the guilty
nuggets are
he may "proclaim his
then
Job to
pleads with
to the critical significance of the surface. It
claim
thing is
are
words and thus
it
be."
shall
Job's be
an
position either presupposes or soon
leads to the
notion of nature or
is to be in place, things must be what they are. There must intelligible necessity to the world. All that is involved in holding to the
natures.
surface.
If
argument
But that
would
limit
prayer.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
1 Then Job hand is I
from
heavy
might come
and
fill my
answer me!
He
answered and said: all
my
would
8 I
I be
in
me.
got me
3 Who 4 I
5 I
His
7 There
an
great power?
the south
He
out
case
my
before Him, He would
with what words
have to say to
No, surely He
of
with
6 Would
me.
His
would place
Him,
and there
His absence3; to the west, but I
was veiled and me and
I
could not see.
I have
come
but I
could
grasp Him. In 10 But He knows the way I have
to the north among His works,
taken. He has tried
lay
know
find Him! How
forever.2
from my judge to the east, but it was full
Him; 9
would
My
today.
again
tell me how to
can
would
bitter
upright man can reason
released
not sense
musings are
to understand what He would
want
strive against me with
confidence
"My
to his appointed place!
mouth with arguments.
I
2
groaning.'
could not
through as gold. 11
My foot held
tight
track; I kept to His ways and did not swerve. 12 Nor have I departed from the commandments of His lips. From within my breast I have treasured up to His
the words of His
Him? His
soul need
and there are
presence
mouth.4
13 But He is
only desire,
and
such who stand
many leads me into
but
one
purpose, who
it is done. 14 But
by
confusion.5
of
reflect
heart,6 The Almighty has led me into my destroyed by the darkness only because He had
softened
dissuade
He fills my
yet
Him. 15 It is because
When I
can
breast,
of all this that
His
I fear Him. 16 God has confusion.
concealed7
17 I
its thick
was
murk
not
from
me.
Comments 1. It is the morning of the next day. Job may have thought that after a good night's sleep his world might look different, that confusion and frustration
24
Interpretation
might
"My
just
"No,"
what
way
slender
it
could
3. "but it 4. Job's
full
was
of
Simply
innately
words of
of
of a rebel.
go
away;
bitter.
things are
in
no
If this
meaningless.
God's whole, how
within
but
He had
he held
him for the
and
see note
accepted
the human
source of
to
7:8.
the world
horizon,
Still there
as a treasure.
he it
as
was a
those things that he
He believed only that the
God's law in
and
means and the
having
because God
your
when you
and you
a
one
he
could not
To Job, the
action:
one
filled his
irony
implied in his words,
nest of
one must
"soft heart":
heart
was
heard his
have humbled before me, I
SOFT
and you
humbled
yourself
words against this place and
yourself
before me,
and
have
before
its inhabitants,
rent your clothes
have heard you, says the LORD. and shall say to them, 'Hear, O Israel, you draw near this day to battle against your enemies: let not your heart BE SOFT; do not fear, and wept
Deu 20:3
or
justice is
If
just
in the world; the other was a only thing Such was the presence that led Job into confusion.
duality
2Chr 34:27
was
was
of value
Job
see what
tremble,
God's talk
be buffeted
not
he
says.
ainnenu
mouth"
all was veiled.
meaningless chaos.
the
that
around
and seemed the
6. To
did
him.
5. God's law in speech,
It
His
He looked
but
treasured most,
consider
Eliphaz
loved it. It filled his breast
and
of emptiness.
breast
as
absence."
His
spirit was not
see could see
be
can't
were real and
me?"
before
up in, defined by "the
kind
They
again
problems
are, then the just is not just and all becomes
grown
was
today."
the surface before me has no place
of
stand
bad dream. But the
Job, "Things
thought
they
bit
some
bitter
musings are
2.
had
like
vanish
by
His
of
or
be in dread
The "soft
way of speaking that left him open to
7. "covered
of
justice that first
actions.
another
this openness
also
them;
softened
Job's heart
and
laid it bare to
heart"
which came
about
Job's lack
to be out of a love
of an
"underskin."
It
of
was
so much pain.
over"
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
1 even
"Why has
not
those who
the
Almighty
know Him
established1
specific times
cannot recognize
His
for judgment*? Now
timing.2
2 Boundary off, flocks seized and peacefully sent to pasture. 3 Men lead away the donkeys of the fatherless. They have impounded the widow's ox 4a The destitute they turned from the roads. 9 They pluck the fatherless stones3
are carried
and take a pledge of gether.
5
They
the
are wild
poor.4
asses
4b The in the
poor of the
desert, going
from the breast land hide themselves to
off about
their
labors
of
The Book of Job
25
snatching up at dawn. They have only the wasteland to provide food for the young men. 6 They harvest in the fields and glean the vineyards of the guilty.
7 Naked, they pass the night without clothing, and shelter from the is none. 8 Drenched by torrents in the hills, they cling to a rock for
there
10 Without clothing, they
shelter.5
of
sheaves; 11 confined within walls,
in the
wine
wounded souls
its
within
in
yet
cry out;
were rebels against
they labor
Hungry, they bear the olive press; trampling down
naked.6
at the
thirst. 12 From out of the city come
they
vats,
go about
light
the
all that
God
its
who could neither recognize
saying, 'No eye will take note of
he
and
killing
groans; They8
13
nothing
14 In the light, a murderer arises night he turns thief. 15 An adulterous me'
mortal
unsavory.7
sees
course.
needy, and at
cold want
path nor remain
the poor and the
twilight, his face. 16 In the dark
eye watches at
conceals
he tunnels his way into houses which are sealed up tight against him by day, he9 since does not know the light. 17 For him morning and the Shadow of Death are all the same for he recognizes nothing but the terrors of the Shadow of
Death.
18
He10
is held in discredit
accursed upon
drought The
heat
and
face
over the entire
of
the waters and his lot is
the land. He cannot turn down the path to the steal water
forget him
womb will
from snow,
vineyards.
does the Pit to those
so
19 As 20
who sin.
the worms will find him sweet. Let him no
and
longer be remembered, that injustice may be broken as a tree. 21 He is mated to a barren woman who cannot give birth, and life shall not go well for his widow. 22 for
By
his might, he
a time
he has
the valiant
come to
exalted
he may
and though
seem
world
stand
tall
secure, and
for
ways."
mallow, withered away like heads
liar,
bend,
belief in life. 23 His
may 24 He may be rely upon it, but his eyes are upon its while, but then he is gone; brought low, and shriveled up like a
he may
a
can make
no steadfast
of grain.
25 If it be
not so
then prove me a
nothing."
and make
my
words worth
Comments 1. The
word
word which we
its meaning
I have translated here
have
considered
"established"
as
before but
not
in
how it is
only be
seen
Job 10:13
But You
treasured all these things
Job 14:13
Who
can
by looking
can move
at
You to hide
much
me
is
a rather complicated
depth. The full
range of
used:
up in Your heart. in the Pit and conceal
me till your
anger passes?
Job 15:20
The guilty man writhes in pain all his days and the lies hidden from those who can terrorize.
number of
his
years
Job 17:04
So, You have protected even
You
no
their
longer have any
hearts from insight, for them.
respect
and that
is why
26
Interpretation Job 20:26
The
Job 21:19
God, sons?
whole of you
Why
darkness has been
stored
treasure
his
will
say,
then, let Him
all
up
complete the
his up to be to
wickedness
bargain
now
treasures.
lay
his
upon
and then shall
he
learn. From
Job 23:12 Job 24:01
has
Why
my breast I have
within
not the
treasured
up
the
words of
established specific times
Almighty
His
mouth.
for judgment?
days"
2. Literally, "His Punishments that do appear as
clearly
not
appear as punishments, rewards
clearly
rewards; such things do no good, and it
that do not
is the innocent
who
suffer.
3. The
collapse of civilization,
according to Job, begins with the destruction first brought it into being. See note to
the most tangible sign of that act which
10.
verse
4. This is in fact 24:9
which I, along 5. 24:9 transposed to follow 24:4a.
with
others, have placed after 24:4a.
6. The going
poor of the
land hide themselves together. labors
off about their
of
snatching up
to provide food for the young men.
from the
and shelter
to a rock
The
for
picture
cold there
is
.
.
.
none.
at
Naked, they Drenched
that Job paints here is of a
the
torrents
desert,
wasteland
pass the night without
by
Without clothing, they
want of shelter.
almost animal-like
They are wild asses in They have only the
dawn.
clothing,
in the hills, they cling
go about naked.
world reverted
days. The times that Eliphaz had
back to primitive,
warned of are
already but they were none of Job's doing. The tme cause is God's justice, lacks the kind of order and timing that man can grasp.
around us, which
Why those
flocks
The leave
has
not the
Almighty
know Him
who
seized and
established specific
cannot recognize
peacefully
all-too-often-praised
sent
judgment? Now,
Boundary-stones
even
are carried off,
to pasture.
unintelligibility
imitative models,
men no
times for
His timing.
the
of
divine
models without which all
justice
order and
law is
quick to
disap
pear.
7. Whatever
remains of civilization
only
serves to
increase
the sense
of
radation.
8. It is
not
immediately
clear to whom
the word
"They"
refers
but
deg
by
his
the emphatic pronoun, I take it that the author has not switched subjects but is still speaking of the poor. If this is the correct use of
talking
about
Sin
out of the total
cussion,
see
at this
point, but
of
that
hopelessness described in
kind
verses
the note to verse 18.
9. The Hebrew text
of
switches to the plural
interpretation, Job is not depravity that can only arise
7 through 12. For further dis
for the
10. The translations vary greatly from this point ter.
Some translate it in the indicative
rest of the passage
on till
the end of the
while others put the whole
chao
passage in the
The Book of Job
hortatory; "May he be held in discredit he
May
The
not
turn down the path
Some
.
may his lot be
and
.
accursed
essential problem
even
speakers.
If
None
likely
more
Job
the speech to one
then into crime,
to suffer
about
those of the poor
of
far.
the other
however,
who were sucked
are
a
bit
the ones who are in fact
be overlooked, though it is far from certain. verse 25 does not sit very well with the
while
if taken to
the rest of the passage,
book
not sit well with the
refer
with no assurance of survival.
Yet
[God]
he relies, and keeps watch over his The Revised Standard translates: "Yet
to
all
as a whole.
translates: "Though he have the strength to seize bulls
Greenberg
.
in its favor is that
hortatory interpretation, does
.
would so
the passage begins to make
be saying that those ill effects from their actions. should not
.
impossible.
absurd or
would then
main argument
11.
is
be speaking
still
and
This interpretation
wrongdoers,
by attributing
of these solutions
him to
we take
more sense.
the problem
solve
into degradation
live
.
.
is that, taken in the indicative, the passage to be in direct contradiction to everything Job has been saying
seem
The
.
27
him the security
gives
May
he
on which
affairs."
of] the
his power;
by
mighty
them security and
I have:
they
"By his
are
they rise
supported;
up and
(pull/bend) [the life they despair of life. [He] gives
[God] when
his
prolongs
ways."
eyes are upon their
might, he can make the valiant
bend, and though he may he has no steadfast belief in life. His world may seem time] secure, [it/He gives him to security] and he may [come to] rely upon it, but his stand
tall [for a
its
eyes are upon
ways."
I have brackets to facilitate
around words that
do
not
actually
in the Hebrew text
appear
comparision.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite He
makes peace
does His light
whom
God
in His high not
answered and place.
shines.
Even the
3 Is there any
fall? 4 How
or what can cleanse anyone
nothing
said:1
bom
2 Dominion number
to
can a mortal think of woman?
stars are not pure
in His
these mortals, the maggots or the son of man
('adam)?
6 And
the
are
His.
himself just before
5 Look high sight.
fear
and
His troops? Upon
as
the moon,
now what of
worm.3
Comments 1. In half its of the
order
to
nearest
this, the shortest chapter of the book and less than must begin by looking at the plan of the central section
understand
rival,
we
book, including Chapters 3
through
25
as a whole.
28
Interpretation Chapter
Number
Job 3
of
Verses Zophar
Bildad
Eliphaz
26
4-5
48
6-7
51
8
22 56
9-10
20
11 75
12-14
35
15
38
16-17
18
21
29
19
20
29
21
34
22
30
23-24
42
25 As
we can
6 see, the
speeches each.
We
Bildad's last
speech and that
told whether
Bildad simply
2. Bildad
man, the
Zophar's final
We
or whether
remember
them well.
'Mother'
.
Job
what of these
Job had said, "If I must call out where then is my Job had always known that the claim "man is .
three sets of two
speech was never given.
talking, "And now
stopped
worm."
rounds of
that the dialogue was cut off in the middle of
ends with the words
or the son of
for three
original plan called
can also see
.
cut
him
We
are not
off.
mortals, the
maggots
Back in Chapter 17,
'Sister'
and
to the maggots,
hope?"
sation
because it denies the
it
reveals
the surface
is
the surface
other
being
within on
than to
Job's soul,
the one
hand,
caused and
would end conver
what, for Job, is the ultimate grounds As Job looks at the world, there is an equation maggot"
a
and the claim that the surface view
itself to human thought is
beginning
by
the
for
man.
contradictory
the fear of the
Lord
on
a surface
In
for man, it has
man as such must
no
spite of the constant strife
claims of
both
the surface world
the other to be "the
wisdom."
What is first for
Since
of no ultimate relevance.
precisely because it is
be the
maggot"
relevance of
of any human conversation. between the notion that "man is of things as
a
be the
beginning
of
beginning human
of
con
versation.
Conversation, then, that
he
must come to an end
is not a maggot.
If the
that he was not a maggot; enigmas and
forgotten.
contradictions,
precisely because Job has
surface world made perfect
but it does and yet
sense, he
not make perfect sense
for Job it
no proof
would
know
It is full
of
makes too much sense to
be
The Book of Job And now,
he
thing
what of
Bildad? He
the one to make the
was
was always
final break. We
to notice is that while he has
terms with
He
Job, Bildad has
the most understanding, but now,
totally
abandoned
him
attempt to come to
any
personally.
to have learned from Job that any attempt to find
seems
the question of the status of the surface world would
"Look high sight."
Bildad has taken the
got!"
Bildad has
be
moon, nothing shines. Even the
as the
seen
a compromise on
meaningless.
stars are not pure
shines"
"Nothing
other path.
Perhaps the first
ask ourselves why.
never condemned
"man is
and
Only
by himself,
man,
has
a
of
mag
position that no
sufficiently large horizon to think
the wider horizon supplied
foundation
in His
a
that the only viable counter-position to Job requires di
minishing the status of both man and the visible universe. To put it otherwise, Bildad began back in Chapter 8 with the single
29
human thought. He
by
as
Job thinks.
the wisdom of the ages will
do
as
the
the position as untenable. If a single
now sees
horizon is necessarily too confined, it can only mean that the human horizon as such, including that of the fathers, is defective. Man is a worm and man's
has only
a worm's-eye view.
Nonetheless, he has that
he
cannot prove
3. Thus two
old
not condemned
that he
friends
is right
Job. Why? Is it because he too knows
and
hence that Job is
wrong?
part.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
1 Then Job
are so powerless? strength!1
2 "Oh why
answered and said:
You
3 What kind
guidance to
would save me with a
of advice
passer
is it that
by. 4 To
must you
mighty arm, but
you give without
whom
have
every is it that has been coming out of 5 Ancient specters writhe beneath the waters
Whose
to
try
help
you
when you
have
not
the
wisdom, providing
you uttered all these words?
you?2
spirit
stands naked northern
before Him
lands
out over
and there
is
no cover
and
its
denizens.3
for Abaddon. 7 He
the chaos and suspends the earth above the
6 The Pit
stretches the nothingness.4
8 He binds up the waters in thickened murk, and yet the cloud is not burst by 9 He covers over the face of his throne, shrouding it in His clouds. 10 He cuts a boundary round the face of the waters reaching out to where the light them.5
finds its rebuke.
end
12
Rahaba. 13
fleeing
in darkness. 11 The His
By By
His
breath6
serpent writhe.
of what can reflect upon
pillars of
power the sea comes
the heavens turn
14 Yet these
are
be heard in Him. Oh the it!"7
heaven tremble,
to rest.
but
a
By
His
astounded
skill
He
fair. His hands have His way, only His mighty deeds,
touch
thunder of
of
by
struck
His
down
made the a whisper who can
30
Interpretation Comments 1. These
in his
Job's last
are
his
own
surface of things
way.
in the way in
find
not
We may
find
not
which
To ask,
off
into the
not
looked,
or
has
Asking
have else
Their
is
is
Our
his
deeper,
started
Is it that
we
critical
from
having seen?"
having
answer; there may only be
do
each time richer and
it?"
may be to be carried because we have
not see
looked because nothing has caught has caught the eyes or the ears of Eliphaz
voice
blurred
do, "Who
regress.
no
we not
this question
their own horizons. all those
because there may be time deeper and
infinite
cannot share
to look come from the
each
Job implies that it is
ceased.
of them.
strength
as children sometimes
realm of an
that something
2.
forth,
Job has faced it, they
help.
to the question, "Does seeing come
does the
or
an answer
the going back and richer.
an answer
look,
the strength to
to terms with them
are all well-meaning men; Job knows that, but each all want to help, but without having faced the
question and so are powerless to
We may
come
They They
own mind now.
must go
to his friends. He has
words
to our understanding
of
our eye? and
Or is it
the others?
why the dialogue
has been coming out homegrown because it did not arise from within
not
not their own spirit that
own voice,
for Job, is the only voice able to articulate first stirred up from within
and obscured thoughts which are
our own particular partial awareness of
the surface of things as it lies
within our
shaggy and ill-defined horizon. Other thoughts may have a bril focus, but when they have been poured from one mind into an
own particular
liant
central
they lose that particular periphery which once connected them to the land in which they were bom. For this reason there are no pathways which could other,
lead
back to his
one
own
horizons
thought for the teacher becomes
because he
cannot reach out
the center which he
3. Job is surface
and
beyond. Too often,
hardened dogma for the
to the horizon but
can repeat
alone now.
a
He is
in
dance,
or
to give
is
is continually forced to
a
living
precisely return
to
comfortable repetition.
finally free, free
to setde down and live in
world, but something, some ancient specter, older
to writhe, or
what
student
birth, for
by
his
far than he, begins
the Hebrew word means
all of
those
things, beneath it. 4. Job is than
more
question
is
existence at ance
beginning
just that,
to reflect upon the
a
surface,
whether this surface
its
most minimal
fact that his surface world is nothing in need of support from within. The thing is a veneer, only intended to support human
a
level,
or whether it is an integral external appear lies beneath it can reveal itself. At question is not the surface, but its relevance as a point in the
through which whatever
the absolute truth of search
for the truth.
beginning
For the present, Job has only focused on the surface, but he is beginning to and to wonder how his world can be more than "A northern land
feel disturbed,
stretched the out over
the chaos or an earth suspended above the nothingness
"
The Book of Job I
suspect that
Eliphaz
have looked
might
the human view of the surface has
been
at
things in just that
so contorted
nothing behind it can be recovered. A New Heaven revealed to him before he can proceed.
by
31
For him,
way.
man's perversion that
and a
New Earth
be
must
5. Not only does Job have no account of the existence of his world, he also it as a fragile realm, constantly under the threat of all those forces that could, and yet do not, destroy it. Job can neither account for nor doubt the sees
relevance of
6.
his
surface world.
"spirit"
or
7. The shaggy limit of Job's clarity ebbs its way into darkness and obscurity. shrouded from man the source of his own existence, and he cannot tell
God has
what gives
his little
world
its
solidity.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
1 And who
Job took up his proverb has thrown aside all my [claims for] again
2
"By the life of that God the Almighty has embittered
and said: justice,1
3 Yet so long as there is breath within me, or the spirit of God in my 4 never will my lips speak any injustice, or my tongue utter deceit. 5 nostrils, I'll not pretend that you have been just. Even till I perish, I shall not turn No, soul!2
my
my simplicity from
righteousness 7
My
enemies4
6 I
me.
and not
let
disavow my integrity, but cling tight to my For my heart has never felt pangs of
shall not
reproach.3
go.
he that rises up against me as the hope does the impious man have when he is cut off, when are as the wicked and
unjust
8 for
God
have drained away his soul. 9 Will God hear his cries when trouble his way, 10 or when he rejoices in the Almighty, even if he should call
what
will
comes upon
God
what
belongs to the
what
has happened. Oh, why
at all times?
13 Such is the lot
Almighty
set aside
11 But I
Almighty of
I
will
are you so
the guilty
for those
teach you what
man
is in
('adam) from God, 14 If his
of
God,
have
and
all seen
a
heritage from
the
become great, the be satisfied with bread. sons
be out for them, for his offspring will never 15 When death buries those that remain, even their widows
sword will
If he
you
useless?
utterly
who can terrorize.
hands
the
12 Well,
shall not conceal.
shall not weep.
16
up silver like dust, and lay out his clothing as if it were clay, he has laid it out, the righteous shall wear it, and the innocent will
should pile
17 then
once
share the silver.
18 He built his house like
night watchman might make.
19 He lies down,
be gathered, for when his eyes overtake him like a flood of waters, will
him. 21 The
east wind will
from his place, 22
turn and
a moth.
hoist5
a
It's like
a shack that some
rich man, but nothing more be gone. 20 Terrors will
are opened all will
and
by
night a sea-storm will make off with
him up and be on its way. It will sweep him at him without mercy. With the whole of
hurl itself
32
Interpretation
his
he flees from its hand. 23 But it
spirit
whistles
him
from his
off
him
palm upon
down its
claps
and
place."
Comments 1. Mishpath; Here is clearly
instance in
an
which one might
2. Job has
seen a
deal, but
great
when
he
Job
swears
that has
conflict
by
all
given
that is
by
appears
4. It is
him. He
in his
5.
as
in
poignancy
also unjust.
This is the
soul.
ingratitude. The
spite of the
for its
spirit of
fact that the
we are to understand verses
one
takes it to be Job's
account of
come
was a shared
how the
God,
value and
hard to know how
as
it
integrity
result of
that act
7 through 10. If, looked to him,
world once
in better focus.
time when Job was an integral part of the human world around
its
views and
he
shared
its trust. There
ways which could sense mock piety.
has been itself
itself
is
holy
great
so
it begins to There
is
can show gratitude
integrity
clinging to that as ingratitude.
however,
manifest
itself in Job's nostrils,
manifests
that all that
immediate
own
There is
rise to the bitterness in Job's
3. Gratitude is forced to
only
holy
his
to
returns
world, the claims of justice still loom above him. when
be tempted to
"right."
the word
use
no essential change
under an alien
In
in his simplicity,
verse
5 he
although
kind
of
simplicity
maintains
that there
was a
it has suddenly found
horizon.
"raise"
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
1 "There is taken
from
a mine
for
silver and a place where gold
the earth1; and the rock
an end to the
darkness. He
murk and the
Shadow
Abandoned
nels.
5 There is like
fire.5
bird
of
8
nor
a
6 Its
by
land
of
is
made
flow
is
made pure.
with copper.
3
2 Iron is
Man2
brings
everything to its limit, even to this rock of Death. 4 Far from any habitation, he blasts out chan
every
explores
passer
by, destitute
which gives us our
stones are
to
the
home
of
of all
humanity,3
daily bread,
sapphires,
and
but
wander.4
they
underneath
its dust is
it
churns
of gold.
7 No
prey knows the trails. The eye of the falcon has never caught sight of it, have the sons of pride ever trampled it over. The lion can bear it no 9 but man has put his hand to the flint and
witness,6
overturned its
by
the root.
precious
10 He
thing.
rips open channels
11 He binds up the
through the
flowing rivers
rocks.7
and the
His
hidden
mountains
eye sees
things
every
come
to
light.8
12 Yet wisdom, where can she be found?9 Which is the place of understand ing? 13 No mortal knows its value. Nor can it be found in the land of the living.
33
The Book of Job 14 The
Deep be
cannot
measured
gotten
by
'It is
says
not within
for gold,
the gold of
nor silver
Ophir,
gold nor glass can match
Neither
crystal nor coral
precious
than pearls.
be taken in
weight
20 Wisdom,
of
sky.13
its
weighed out as
have it
price.
by
the precious onyx, or
Nubia
of
she come
15 It
not.'
16 It
cannot
be
17 Nor
sapphire.
cannot express
its
value nor can
its
from? Which is the
place of understand
is concealed even, every living 22 Abaddon and Death have said, 'We have heard GOD12 understands the way to it; He 23 But
heavens."
only rumors of it with our knows the place, 24 for He that are under the
the Sea says 'I
gold.10
ing? 21 She is hidden from the from the birds
and
its value; nor vessels of fine gold be its wage. 18 can call it to mind, for gathering wisdom is more
does
where
be
by
or
19 The topaz
pure
me';
thing. She
eye of
ears.'
can
look to the
25 When He
ends of the
established
earth,
and see all things
the weight of the wind, and set
according to its measure, 26 when he gave a law for the rain and for the voice of the thunderbolt, 27 then it was that He saw it, passageway counted it, measured it, and delved into it. 28 And then He said unto man out the waters a
('adam), 'Behold, FEAR evil
is
of the
Lord,14
that
is Wisdom,
and
to turn away
from
understanding.""5
Comments 1.
2. 3.
"dust"
"He"
"mortals"
4. This,
one of the most
first Ode to Man. Few
beautiful
works
passages
in the book,
in literature have
praised
in
could
be
read as the
such elegant speech
the Baconian ideals of the conquest of nature. Job sees this apparent greatness as an glory.
image
his
own quest.
They, too, have left
friends down
of
and with
under
According
himself to,
By
but
what of
little indication
which gives us our our
daily daily lives,
human
of the and
is
they have dug
they have
conquered
Job?
bread"
of meaningful
which
has
committed
world.
The "land
to this view, the surface of nature, the one Job
gives
which, we live
Job has left his
their own powers
the surface and found a world of riches
It is their
surface.
the land of human habitation as
them all of human society.
and made their own;
5.
Men have looked beneath the
in which,
a much
conversation.
true nature of the
too meager
Its inner
say on horizon to form the basis
or perhaps one should
chumings must
first be
searched
out.
6. Man
can
force
nature
to reveal
itself to him in
capable of
Man revealing itself to itself.
overcome
the
paltriness of
his
can overcome
own nature.
ways
in
which
it is
not
nature, and hence he can
In this sense,
man
is
not a part of
34
Interpretation
nature, not because
of
in his nature, but because he
perversion
any
can conquer
and rule over nature.
7. Even veins
is
man's plan to reveal nature
in the
his
rock to guide
8. From Job
until
He
way.
Faust, containing
by nature. There are open by his own might.
not supplied
must
rip it
the inundation of
chaotic
has been
waters
the symbol of man's understanding of and control over the world
in
no
he
which
lives. 9. Perhaps the
impressive
most
aspect of
Chapter 28 lies in the
Job has taken in thinking through and articulating both moved by verses 1 through 11, yet the bare mention
One
sides. of
first
the
care which
cannot
but be
word of the
wisdom,"
is
verse, "Yet
to turn things quite the other way round. 10. Verses 12 through 18 are magnificent in their ability to reveal simul
next
taneously both 11. Men
fly
above
sufficient
the richness and the
can
it, it
poverty of the undertaking. beneath the surface, but even if, like birds, they
dig
only
do them
would
12. This is the first time
it is
Morphologically refer to
the one God
could
no good.
have
"GOD"
since Chapter 2. is commonly used outside the Book of Job to Israel. The word is in the singular, and can have we
met
the
word
a plural and of
"God"
a more generic meaning.
13. In these passages, Job ments of the others
be trying to in terms that fit into the world seems to
restate as
for himself the
he has been
argu
able to see
it
up till now. Unlike man, GOD has a complete view of an all-encompassing horizon. Man's horizons, by contrast, are limited, and their edges are hazy. Rumors from beyond seep in "that"
we "that"
merely
is
a
have
central
his
own
horizon,
out.
What
his
or whether man
shrouded
is faced
way
implies
"LORD,"
which we
frequently
saw
begin to
and
with a gulf
14. This is the only time in the text that the word word
see
we
The ambiguity of whether it is a to the reading of the book. Job's question is
either
"what"
not seen.
man of care can rummage through yond
lead
and obscure pathways
"what"
or
he
or
whether a
"Lord"
will appear.
in Chapters 1
and
be
pierce
cannot pass.
2,
The
and which will
in Chapter 38, is something like a personal name for the God of Israel. The root seems to be a word or "to meaning "to "being" "becoming" The distinction between the two, and can be made in begin to
re-emerge
be"
Hebrew, but The
not with the "Lord"
word
is
clarity that
one
a
very common Book of Job, especially in the Book of only time in Job. Its literal meaning is used
to apply to
human beings,
two English words
15. The out
and
structure and sense of
in the last two
If this
"mister"
suspicion
notes give
is true, it
and
become."
has in
word
either Greek or English. for the God of Israel outside
Psalms, Lords." "my
although
it
In the
occurs
the
here for the
it is often its meaning lies somewhere between the singular
"master."
the verse, together with what
it the
ring
would add to
of a
quotation
from
has been
pointed
psalmic literature.
the notion that this chapter is not to be
35
The Book of Job read as a simple recantation on the part of
the thoughts of others with
his
in terms that
Job, but
make sense
awareness of the partial nature of
his
more of an attempt
to him in own
to
order
grasp
of
to
come
restate
to grips
the whole.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
1 And
Job took up his proverb by, to the days when God
again
months gone
2 "Who
said:1
and
my head and I walked in the darkness by days when God was at home in my tent, 5
shone over autumnal yet with
I
and
me,
with
my lads
me; 6 to
all about
can return
to the
me, 3 when His lamp His light; 4 back to my
watched over
when the
when
cream, and the rock poured out its streams of oil
for
my feet
Almighty were
was
bathed in
me?2
7 When I went to the city gates and was about to take my seat on the square, 8 the young men would see me and retire, the elders rose and stood. 9 Princes refrained from words and put their hands over their mouths. 10 The voice of the nobles was
heard
saved a
to
hushed,
help
him. 13 The blessings
made the widow's cause
16 I
their tongue stuck to their palate, 11 for an ear had
and
it blessed me; an eye had seen and it approved, 12 because I had poor man when he cried out, and an orphan when there was no one else
and
fit like
heart
sing.
of those who
14 I
put on
hat. 15 I became
a coat or a
had been lost
judgment, to the
eyes
and
it
blind,
came to
covered me.
father to the needy, and often I would search out I did not even know. 17 I would break the jaw of the
the prey from his
shall perish
sand,'
19
multiplied as
'My
in my
branches.'
upon
them.
own
little
nest,4
his troops
my days
23
They
was ever
fresh, my bow
me and wait
25 I
chose their
or as one who
has
having
spoken
waited
for
they had
me
in
way,
and sat as chief.
compassion
for
would re
in expectation,
falling My
no changes.
expectation as
I dwelt
for the
24 I joked
so that my kindness would not overwhelm them because
self-confidence.5
a man
unjust and wrest
rain; their mouths opened wide as if to catch the spring rain. them a bit
for
roots opening me up to the waters, and the dew
20 My dignity resting upon my new itself in my hand. 21 Men would hear silent to hear my counsel. 22 After I had fell gently
a case
teeth.3
18 I thought to myself; 'I
words
A just
feet to the lame.
and
was a
whom
me, and I
as a
with
they had
king
no
among
mourners.
Comments
1. "And
again
Job took up his
that formulation
began
with
which
began "Ancient
time
it follows
made
proverb and said": The only other chapter that 27. That time, it followed the passage 26:5-14
specters writhe
the passage, "There
pure."
is
was
is
beneath the
a mine
for
sea and
its
denizens."
This
silver and a place where gold
36
Interpretation "digging"
The two
passages
"proverb,"
I take to
which
still
understood
Job's
refer to the rest of
be
to
grasp any relationship between his he has discovered lying beneath it.
the
that
world
2. In the last chapter, Job had their own digging, discover a
beneath
dig
seen men
their
from his
apart
The implication
speech.
surface world
to be that Job has yet to
seems and
are
own
surface, and
any human eye. He had seen it done and knew what it meant. But this knowledge only caused him to doubt his own ability to search behind his own surface in the most
by
decisive
justice
and
raised a good
by
before his
world
Being just
hat.
fire.
Spring
began to fall
the
autumnal
had
and summer
day
days,
come and well with
was good.
life had been for Job
most complete picture we get of what apart.
A just
cause
was natural and comfortable
4. This line in its context, together main credentials of
ruling
for
men
time has come to surface of
5.
already in his
of
fit like
for Job,
a
and
favorite
old coat or a
he knew fit
the world
it.
around
love
was
beauty
fellow citizens, manuring them
of
kindness. The seeming
3. This is the
Job
the
crop
the deceptive
banishing
was good.
retired, and ready to curl up
He had
in
made a mistake
his birth. The seeming
gone.
by
respect.
Perhaps he had of
new world as yet unseen
things
Greenberg
being
who
with verse
4, is,
as
it were,
one of
Job's
he is. The implication is that the ability
and
well, plus the willingness to relinquish that rule when the
do so, is
with
what
dignity
both forces
and what allows
Job to face the
and concern.
translates: "When I smiled at
them, they
would not
believe it;
favor."
they
never expected a sign of
my The Revised Standard translates: "I
dence
and
the light
The first means
"to
"to or
fall,"
"to
them when
they had
no confi
down."
my countenance they did not cast is that yappilun may come from pll, which normally intervene," but see Genesis 48:11, "I never expected to "to of
problem
pray"
or
face."
see your
smiled on
This is how
however,
and
Greenberg
in the
causative
takes it. It could as well come from npl,
form
could mean either
"to
down"
cast
disarm."
overthrow or
A further a subjective
problem
is
whether un
(The Revised
is
Standard)
an objective
ending.
(the
proposed
translation)
or
The Book
of
Translation
and
Job
Commentary
on
Chapters 30
31
and
Robert D. Sacks St. John's College, Santa Fe
CHAPTER THIRTY
1 But fathers I
now
they have
would
in
want and starvation.
destroyed. 4
joke',
those younger than I whose
my sheep dogs. 2 What is the from whom all vigor has been lost, 3 a
contempt to put with
their hands to me, those men
strength of wasteland
turned me into the
have felt
They
They
land
gnaw at a parched
they root
has become their food. 5 Driven from the heart
gather mallow and
and
destroy
as
leaves from the bushes. Broom
are
of
things, they
are cried
like thieves. 6
They find their quarter in river beds, in holes in the dust and the rock. 7 Braying in the bushes, they huddle together under a weed. 8 Sons of Fools and Sons of Nobodies! They have been whipped from the land.2 9 And now they have made a ditty of me and I have become a byword to them. 10 Oh, how they abhor me and keep their distance; they do not even refrain from spitting in my face. 11 They unfasten my tent rope and down I come. They have thrown off all restraint. 12 On my right, flowering youths rise up and put me to flight. They pave roads of destruction against me. 13 They upon
tear
up my 14 They
path and come
in
15 Terror turns days and
of
a great
upon
by
salvation passes
foster my demise but it does them
like
wave after wave of
pursues
gentility4
ceases.6
18
My
my tunic chokes at me.
become like dust
and ashes.
20 I cry out to You, but You give no brutal8 and 21 You have turned
at me.
22 You hoist
about
in the
prepared and
cry
for
out
The first bers 2
and
3,
wreckage. all that
in
answer. with
lives; 24
I
yet will not
stand
there, but
you
only
stare
the might of Your hand You per
wind9
up onto the 23 I know that You me
will
and set me astride to
deliver
me
those in turmoil
to
death,
reach out
be tossed the house their
hand
calamity.10
their
commentary appeared in Volume 24, Num Interpretation. The balance will appear in future issues.
twenty-nine chapters of the translation and and
wind,s
clothing envelops me in great restraint 19 It throws me into the mire and I
and the collar of
secute me.
like the
and my 16 Now, my soul has poured itself out, and hold of me. 17 By night my bones are whittled away,
my
a cloud.
misery have taken
the gnawing never
burst,
me; it
no good.
destruction.3
Volume 25, Number 1,
interpretation,
of
Winter 1998, Vol. 25, No. 2
Interpretation
156
soul weep for those who had seen hard times? My in waited I came 26 I hoped for the good but there evil;
25 Did I the poor.
for the light, but there Days I
of
stood
and
never only a murk. 27 My bowels churned, before me. 28 I walked in gloom with no sun
friend to the
and cried
ostrich.'2
30
out; 29
black
skin turned
My
my bones are scorched by the heat. 31 my flute to the voice of tears.
My
off me; and
I became
and so
a
and
for
expectation
came
poverty were ever up in the assembly
Jackal"
grieved
not
at rest. above.
brother to the
is
now
peeling lyre has turned to mourning
Comments 1. Verse 1 is intended Job's
kind
friendly
of gratitude which
dence, has been
back to
as a reference
laughter, intended to
leaves them
answered
by
a
only a derisive laughter. with
24
verse
last
of the
feeling
of
debilitating
2. In turning laughter into scorn, they have, in Job's eyes, lost all without gaining true animality. Their needs remain human, but the
implied
their jest makes
by
the most direct sense of
inability
They
to share.
it impossible for them to join
huddling
are
human
3. Job finds that he is
no
do
no
are powerless and can
together without
longer
able
harm. The
in the Hebrew text, has become
came
his
The
his
from his
compassion
contempt
his feelings
received notion of
5.
his inner
with others except
in
scoffing,
confused
and
for Job his
men
those who cannot see the
all
scorn,
and
the same
intertwined
goodnatured
their gibes, their contempt
jest
with
which
for him be
for them.
confusion of
terrifies
became
contempt
to maintain the fiction that these
mass effect of
the problem of contempt and compassion. When stemmed
humanity
the means to be human.
4. The word
depen
weed, sharing only their
under a
has, for Job, overwhelmed the surface. place of laughter, joking, playing, of
surface
chapter.
the burden of that crippling
relieve others of
being
of contempt and compassion
deep
watched to produce a
then works upon
sense of guilt which
sense of gentility.
"spirit."
or
6. Verse 17 is people
to
to be told
be taken in
a
completely literal
by
clench their teeth at night.
But why
himself
so
perhaps
the
by
for
harshly most
has been peering evaded
should
in sleep Job feel this
a crime which
fundamental at
not uncommon
poor shape
for
because they both
much pain we can
by twisting and turning, feeling without deeply in his being and punish he knows he did
by
the
not commit?
book. It is
This is
a question that
from behind every page, an enigma too "two or of multiple authorship.
us
of
It is
guilt so
question raised
Jobs"
speaking
in
It is hard to imagine how
cause ourselves and withstand waking.
way.
their dentist that their gums are
vital
to be
The Book of Job In
become
boy
this problem in a
facing
so much a part of
day
the works of Dr. Sigmund
when
breathe, I feel
the air we
like
much
a
157
Freud have
five-year-old
dressed in his Little Lord Fauntleroy suit, trudging home from the pond tiny sailboat under his arm. How shall he relate the great saga of his
with a
day's as
adventures at the
Mr. Darwin
looms
large:
at us
crime which verted
by
As Eliphaz,
his
when
should a man not
in fact
as
is too
narrow
his
little
or
He
God
as
for
has been
soul
fathers
a
per
for him has
that
known to Job,
own perversion with own sin.
such men
weight of guilt
feel that his
act of the
voice of
includes
pond the question still
like Job feel the
to see his
listen to the
view of man and
our
the whole of human society
perverted to recognize
the world
in
commit,
all-encompassing the human spirit?
and
the list of guests
even
an original and
Job is too
limited
Why
he knows he did
such power over
view of
dinner table
Mr. Melville? Yet
and
no
sees and
it,
his
any clarity, learn to forgo the
must
it
reveals
itself to him in
Job's nightly twistings and turnings are caused by his Conscience is the means of divine retribution. But doubts have been
own night visions.
own guilt. raised
concerning this way of looking at the world both in terms injustice that it may be causing with regard to Job.
of
itself
and
in
terms of the
Is it then, that by considering himself guilty pain in order to prove to himself the existence
causing himself such his guilt, he can come to
and of
by
terms with other pains, ones which have no cause? Our guilt, confirmed to us
by
our own
less
self-punishment, then becomes the
reason
for
our otherwise reason
pain.
Or does the
feeling
of guilt act
as
our
only immediate
guarantor of
the
cosmic significance of our actions?
Or do we, by condemning ourselves of sin, wish to place ourselves on a rank beyond ourselves by becoming the condemner as well as the condemned? If this is the case,
what
does it imply? Is it
some strange
kind
of
Kantian freedom
feel, in that we, and no other, such as the deposed father, have become Lord and Master over ourselves? Or is it a way we have of silently and sublimithat we
nally under
feeling
the
joys
tyranny,
of
even at
Compelling
as these reasons are
adequate
in the
from the
cognitive power of
case of
Job. These
living
daily
our
in general, they do
life
of
the matter as it
is
human thought.
apart
to be quite
not seem
arguments presuppose and gain their
and reasoned account of the workings of
heart
the expense of
the pain and dread of that tyranny.
from the
They
intend to
the human needs and
give a
psyche which
drives
of the
force
thoughtful touch the
investigator
himself. This may not, of course, always happen, but the science assumes that at least in theory it is possible. That would suggest that the human psyche can only be
understood
understanding,
Life were so
would
and
be
if it is hence
fundamentally
of
so simple
easily separable, but
understood as
misunderstanding itself. if the two, science and the
they
are not.
something
capable of
all-too-human
The Newtonian
concept of
psyche,
inertia,
a
Interpretation
158
by much human labor, thought, and worked its way down reflection, has by now become a mindless feeling that has for killed almost Galileo was to the bottom of the gut. believing that the earth street believed it. It the moved, and yet in not too long a time most people on is, however, doubtful
Surely I
see
it
haunt
could articulate
many
as cogent as those who
Ghosts
any
had
reason
our
every
bury
cannot,
argue that
our
themselves down
dreams
of thoughts that once
lived in
other minds
step.
every
might
for that belief.
said, "The sun moves,
once
morning."
rise
One
where
that
they had nothing
at
arrived
once countertintuitive notion
are made.
Newtonian
deeply
ghosts
enough
This is surely true,
have not,
into
and perhaps
our souls to
and yet
they do
even
live in the land
seem
to be on their
way.
Perhaps the
one thinker of
to give an
serious attempt
ity
which
Such had
is
capable of
questions
account of
human thought
one to remember
his
Thrasymachus. Plato
in
sees a world
which
must regard
it
as an activ
itself, is Socrates.
understanding
lead
with a man named
Thrasymachus
the past who was most alive to the fact that any
justice
account of a
recounts
discussion he
once
the story in The Republic.
was the advantage of the stronger.
by asking him whether if eating a great quantity of beef is to of Polydamas the pancratiast, does that mean that it is to the
Socrates begins the advantage
to do so.
advantage of all of us
1
.
Justice is the
2. The
stronger
A. Justice is
3. The
advantage of the stronger
is Polydamas
the advantage of
Polydamas is eating a great quantity quantity of beef.
advantage of
B. Justice is eating
Polydamas of
beef
a great
QED
The
is very silly, not what Thrasymachus meant at all. Not in the right way, but it makes Thrasymachus a bit nervous all
whole argument
one word
is
used
the same to see his words
What he meant, all must
world
is the
own advantage and what world would never
that notion without
ing
to a world larger than the one he focused on.
course, is that justice is the advantage of the ruler and that follow his command. As it turns out, somewhere on the periphery of
Thrasymachus's his
leading
of
is
have
having
notion that
not.
the stronger knows what is
Somehow he
made
any
must
sense to
have
always
him, but he
truly
to his
known that,
or
focus in
on
cannot
to make a radical reinterpretation of his understand
of the world.
Once Thrasymachus is forced to
thought, however, he opportunity
of
embraces
rejecting it.
it
with
consider
vigor,
the environment of his own
although
Socrates
gives
him the
159
The Book of Job Polemarchus,"
"It doesn't
I said, "if Thrasymachus says it any difference, that way now, let's accept it from him. Now tell me, Thrasymachus, was this what you wanted to say the just is, what seems to the stronger to be the advantage of the make
whether
stronger,
it is
advantageous or not?
Shall
we assert that this
is the way
you
it?"
mean
"Not in the
least,"
he
said.
"Do
you suppose
stronger'
"I did not
that I call a man who makes mistakes?"
he is making I said, "when you
at the moment when
mistakes
suppose you to mean
infallible but
this,"
also make mistakes
in
things."
some
agreed that the rulers are
(340 c)
This step is fatal to Thrasymachus's argument, although it is hardly fatal to Thrasymachus was forced to step outside his hero to see
the man. It means that
his
than remain inside to feel his power. He
does this partly because he has to make sure of his power in the future, but partly because he wants to be admired, and to be admired means to be admired from the outside. wisdom rather
This
that he wants to be
possessing an art. But when Socrates threatens to make Thrasymachus step beyond his art as those who care for horses are judged by those who can tell whether a horse has been well cared for
means
recognized
as
not, Thrasymachus turns on him:
or
"Tell me,
Socrates, do
instead
you answer
neglects your
fault
do
you
as
it
have
nurse?" this?"
of
asking
sniveling
"Because,"
such
doesn't
nose and
I
"Why
a wet
things?"
give
"Shouldn't
said.
he said, "you know
it the wiping you need, (343 a)
since
she
it's her
shepherd."
not even recognize
Shepherds, according insofar
you
Thrasymachus, only
to
makes them
sheep
or
fatter
rule
for the
good of the
and gives the shepherd more meat.
sheep
Stepping
order to see what is best for the sheep themselves can at best only be Thus The only real question is, "What is best for the Thrasymachus has escaped Socrates but in so doing, he has failed to escape outside
in
shepherd?"
ancillary.
himself. Near the
end of
their
discussion, Thrasymachus readily
to the state
agrees
ment:
"Let
say it, then, as is like but what is unlike,
follows,"
us
I said, "the just
man
while the unjust man tries
does
not
try
to
better
to better both like and
what
unlike?"
(349d) For example, the
musical man
tuning his lyre in the reason
is
is
to
best the
way that other musical does not try to best another
same
the musical man
able
precisely by do. But for that same
unmusical man men
musical
man,
and
the same
true of the wise and of the just. But unlike the artisans, the unjust man, who
wishes
to
better,
that
is to better anybody or anything, can have no common of which he could be praised. Thrasymachus,
goals outside
himself in terms
who so wants
to be seen and to be
heard, has finally been
pried out of
himself
160 in
Interpretation
has been
by
seen
a
bear.
Socrates's goal, then, is
not to
help
lead him beyond his
might
defeat Thrasymachus
The
he
or to prove that
Perhaps that can't even be done. What he may have been him find those bits and byways on the periphery of his
wrong.
to
remains as silent as one who
to see if he can be seen. He blushes and
order
able
was
is
to do
vision which
horizon.
own
Meno, on the other hand, is a different matter. Meno has a dogma, or one might even say, an ideology. It is only the dead
case of
teaching,
or
first grew up in an other mind, the mind of Gorgias. Since he merely inherited these thoughts, Meno is not in touch those vague and all but forgotten peripheral thoughts which dwell in the outer limits of Gor-
remains of a thought which
gias's
horizon,
them. If
he does
Since
ter.
our
not
and
they
horizons
Only
his way back to those dim and smudged ideas which through which he must pass if he is to go beyond
can work
his thought
surround
that is at the focus of his attention.
and which underlie all
Gorgias himself
will always
be
are vague and
itself, only it can offer a means of willing to face his own horizon.
drifting
for
search
unarticulated charac
off
into
a world
beyond
then cannot escape until he is
Meno,
escape.
Modern science, however, in its
him in their
with
shaggy,
rigor and exactitude
demands
a
well-defined object.
Freud, of course, sees the id, but in his attempt
that there
is
to emulate
sharp distinction between the ego and what is generally thought to be the way of no
modern
science, he did not give sufficient heed to Plato's partly explicit, partly
implicit
claim that all meaningful
Freud's
as well, can
reason
as
and
by
prior
the
was
the first man to feel the
first, he
met
it
hence
own and
where
born
as
Without them there
life. But
social
would
reason
them back to
knows only that it depend upon it. Well
are not
it
identical. Job,
of
that
so
distinction,
was yet naked and unmediated
human thought.
are
bringing
The two
full implication
unprepared while
can
we remember
8:8-10
Only
not
only live Bildad's
in
need of others.
established either
The
by
the
those ghosts we call our common heritage.
for
grounds
believe in
as a rethought
ask of the
fathers had
by
and
horizons
well-defined
be insufficient
does
life
feeble,
animals, weak,
everyday life of action requires Fathers or divine revelation, or munal
his
along that edge and in the gray it has already seen.
place
a social and a rational animal.
he knew,
being
We
including
tries to make clearer to itself what
Man is both
far
only take
human thought,
ghosts.
thought.
by learning
communal action or com
It
can
only grasp them
Sociality,
on the other
by
hand,
to live with the ghosts. Our lives
words:
first
generation.
searched out;
for
nothing, our days are but a
we are
shadow
Seat only
yourself of a
passing
firmly
upon what their
yesterday and know land. Will they
over the
not
The Book of Job teach you and speak to you as the words come
their
out of
tumbling
161
*
heart?
"asking"
But is that and of
the asking of piety and belief, or the asking of wonder doubt? For Bildad the answer is clear, and to do otherwise is not only to
Sphinx, it is
to answer the riddle of the
try
Reason
and
to threaten Laius as well.
dedication to the surface, then, demand the
one
thing forbidden
by divine law, tradition, and sociality, that is, autonomous understanding. Job is both a rational animal and a social animal, and he is both in the deepest is
sense.
is
and
not
He therefore lives
as the
forbidder
which
Job is
is that
which
7. of
and
hence,
aware of
is felt
Greenberg
as the
it. This
act of
translates: "With
self-forbidding
translation
me about
"My
like the
garment
Sam.
28:8, 1 Kings 20:38, 22:30). That
tion. In every case the emphasis is change of clothing.
first
the
person.
in
the self wants most
change
my
The
clothing:
The Revised Standard translates: "With
meaning of the word ithappas. Its distort" or "to disguise means "to
the
I
great effort
ive, it
is
of what
neck
waist."
my garment; it binds
as an alternative
savior, and this is the form
or
rewarder,
as guilt.
my tunic fits my
seizes
two shaggy horizons. For each the other
under
there. As we have seen, sociality can only articulate itself to itself
It
must also
On the
other
disfigured."
be
"to
root means oneself"
by
violence
but it
my Here the first search."
In
it
gives
problem
the reflex
clothing (Cf. I for Greenberg's transla
a change of
would account
on the. act of
disguising, however, is in
pointed out that the verb
hand,
the emphasis seems to be on the
is
tunic,"
collar of
while the word azar
does
the
not on
the third not
mean
"to
gird,"
that on the waist. I then take
strength rather
him to be saying the he feels his clothing pulling at him and distorting him. as the subject rather the object of the This means taking the word for "clothing"
Think only of Phaedra. 8. See notes to 30:29, 39:1,
verb.
9.
41:2.
or
10. This is felt
from
and
"spirit"
self
has itself become divided. Job the
der, dissociated from itself found that he
in
as the silent stare of self at self
could no
and
weak
from its sociality,
longer be
which
the division of
self
has become Job the forbid
while
Job the
autonomous when cut off
has
autonomous
from his divided
self.
11. The Hebrew constantly (some say the
(tan) has
rings of the others. "snake,"
several
It
"sea
To
catch
"seahorse,"
echo of
the other, think of the word
somewhat strange
horse, good
although
but
word, we
in the
stronger.
each, as
monster"
say the "dragon"), or, as in the ring of the way in which
others
"jackal."
and
meanings
can mean
cannot
case of
hear
without
or our
we
the
shall
case, it can
each
see,
"Serpent"
always
mean
bears
an
which, partly because it is a
vaguely thinking
of
the
land
the word tan the connection was probably as
162
Interpretation
Even
verb, like the
when used with a singular
name
of
God, it normally
Hebrew ending (tanim), or the more mystical-sounding (tanin).
appears with a plural ending, either the regular somewhat more
foreign,
and
In the Biblical text, it is even
been
considered
hence
somewhat
Leviathan,
often connected with the
to be etymologically
connected with
may have
and
levi, "to
it
twist,"
and tan.
We first
Tan in the book
meet the
Gen. 1:21
So God
of
Genesis
as the great sea monster.
created the great sea monsters and
every
living
moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their
The
next
time we meet the tan it seems to
be something
more
that
creature
kinds, like
a serpent:
'Prove yourselves by working a say to Aaron, 'Take your rod and cast it So Moses down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the LORD commanded; Aaron
"When Pharaoh
Exod. 7:9ff.
says to you,
miracle,'
then you
shall
(tan).'
down his
cast
serpent
rod
before Pharaoh
(tan). Then Pharaoh
sorcerers; and
they
and
his servants,
and
it became
a
summoned the wise men and the
also, the magicians of
Egypt, did
For every man cast down his rod, But Aaron's rod swallowed up their
their secret arts.
the
and
same
by
they became
rods."
serpents.
It is not, however, the in
for
normal word
serpent
(nachash)
which
had been
used
an earlier passage:
The LORD
Exod. 4:2
said
to
him, "What is
And he said, "Cast it
and
it became
Moses, "Put hand
and caught
In fact, the word verse in the Bible:
Ps. 91:13
You serpent
love, I In its
role as
Isa. 27:1
it,
hand,
and
tan seems to
be
will
you will
hand?"
your
So he
the
it
by
a rod
In that
serpent
day
the LORD
(nachash),
and the
will protect
with
fleeing
and
He said, "A on the ground,
tail"
so
he
said to
put out
his
"serpent"
in only
adder, the young lion
one other
and the
trample under foot. Because he cleaves to me in
deliver him; I
Leviathan the
it
in his hand.
used to mean
lion
the
him, because he knows my
the sea monster, it is closely related to the
punish
cast
Moses fled from it. But the LORD and take
it became
will tread on the
(tan)
on
a serpent and
out your
in
that
ground."
rod."
he
his hard
Leviathan,
and great and
strong
sword will
(nachash), Leviathan the twisting the monster (tan) that is in the sea. slay
serpent
will
name.
The Book of Job and as we can of
see, the Biblical authors are again divided in their understanding
the ultimate
harsh
as
it
standing of the tan of the sea, although the division is in the case of the Leviathan. See note to 3:8.
was
According
163
to some accouunts, the monster will one
Ps. 74:13
Thou didst divide the
sea
day
be
not as
destroyed,
might; thou didst break the heads
by thy
of
the monster on the waters.
Isa. 5 1 :9
Awake, days
of
awake, put
strength, O
on
old, the generations of
Rahab in pieces, that didst
dry
long
pierce
LORD;
arm of the
ago.
Was it
awake, as in
not thou that
didst
cut
the monster? Was it not thou that didst
up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that didst way for the redeemed to pass over?
depths
make the
of the sea a
whereas
for
others
Ps. 148:6
he
will
And he
be tamed;
established them
which cannot
be
monsters and all
for
ever and
ever; he fixed their bounds
Praise the LORD from the earth,
passed.
This time, however, there is no hint of playfulness Ezekiel gives two fuller descriptions of the beast
help
to the
you sea
deeps, or admiration. which might
be
of some
reader:
Ezek. 29:2
Son
of man, set your
him
face
against
Pharaoh
king
Egypt,
of
and
Egypt; speak, and say, Thus says prophesy the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, 'My Nile against
and against all
it.'
is my own; I made fish of your streams
I
will put
stick to your
hooks in scales;
the midst of your streams, with all the
your
and
fish
I
jaws, will
and make the
draw
you
up
out of
of your streams which stick
to your scales.
Ezek. 32:2
Son
of man, raise a
lamentation
over
Pharaoh
king
of
Egypt,
and
say to him: You consider yourself a lion among the nations, but you are like a monster in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your
feet,
and
foul their
rivers.
Thus
Lord
says the
my net over you with a host of many peoples; and I will haul you up in my dragnet. And I will cast you on the ground, on the open field I will fling you, and will cause all the birds of the GOD: I
air
will throw
to settle on you, and I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with
you.
Here the
tan appears as the great
maker of the
Nile
to be not the
(nachash) himself.
which
maker
Pharaoh
blue Egyptian
pretended
to
but the destroyer. This
that was destroyed
in Exodus
hippopotamus-god,
reported
be, but in Ezekiel, he is
revealed
would explain
appeared
to
Pharaoh
why the as a tan.
serpent
It
was
164
Interpretation
Job's
that
great complaint
man
is
ever watched rather than
Chapter 7, verse 12 with the words: "Am I the You set watch over But now his awareness
trusted, began in
sea or some monster
me?"
failure
his brothers to
of
strangely pulled by a has come in the form The
jackal, is
the ostrich,
brotherhood
sense of of
I
down
Like Job, the tan live
it
and constant companion
to
land
of
through the
world of man.
by
and
its
and
dog
throughout the Bible as roaming
went out
Dung Gate,
feeling
the Jackal.
desolation just beyond the Neh. 2:1
the
and
watched
that same tan, but this time
with
the wild cousin of the domestic pictured
being
of
his brotherhood have left him
recognize
that
(tan)
night
by
Valley
the
I inspected the
Gate to the Jackal's Well
walls of
Jerusalem
had been destroyed
gates which
on the edge of the
by
desolate city, in
which were
and
to the
broken
fire.
a wasteland
devoid
of
human habitation: Hazor
Jer. 49:33
become
shall
dwell there,
shall
of
jackals,
everlasting waste;
an
them.
It
will never
will pitch
his
tent
be inhabited
howling
or
dwelt in for
will
lie down there,
creatures; there ostriches will
dance. Hyenas
will
palaces; its time is
all generations; no
no shepherds will make their
there,
there. But wild beasts
and
dwell,
its houses
frightening the
voice
world that
in the Tempest
12. "daughters seems to
be
author will use
This
change
about
no
reader
will soon
him
as a man.
knows that it is into just
from
reflect a more
such a world that
beckon him.
whom
refer
to the ostrich, and there
however,
he
will
the same as the word
learn
so much.
There the joy."
meaning "to shout for fundamental transformation in Job's thoughts
the word which comes
may
Perhaps he has
both society and his sociality and human eye or human tongue. For him it is a
to doubt that. It is not, ostrich
of
own
is usually taken to
no reason
be full
cry in its towers, and jackals in the pleasant hand and its days will not be prolonged.
greed,"
of
in 39:13 for the
used
knows
thought, but the
will
close at
acted as a man, and yet no man sees
into the
Arab
flocks lie down
and there satyrs will
no choice now other than to abandon meld
no man
in her.
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pride of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew
Isa. 13:19
Job has
haunt
a
no man shall sojourn
from
a root
the bird and about wild nature in general.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
1 I have maiden?1
made
2 What
a
part
my eyes, for how could I have I in God above, or heritage from the
covenant
with
gaze upon
Almighty
a
on
The Book of Job high? 3 Is
165
calamity for the unjust and disaster only for those who work 4 Does He not see my ways or take count of my every step? 5 Have I walked along with falsehood, or has my foot hurried to deceit? 6 not
wickedness?
Let Him
7 If my step has taint stuck
or a
eyes,
and then God will know of my from the way, my heart gone after my to my hand, 8 then let me sow, but another eat, or let my
justice,
weigh me on the scales of
simplicity.
wandered
crop be 9 If my heart was seduced by a woman and I set entrance way, 10 may my wife grind with another, uprooted.2
over
her, 11 because 12 It
sion.3
have
be
would
a
and
let
have been licentiousness
fire consuming down
my
neighbor's
others
bow down
and a
juristic
Abaddon,4
to
perver
that I
all
uprooting
ever accomplished.
13 If How
I felt
ever
contempt
they brought
when
I
would
the same
for the
case against
answer
in my
who made me
cause of one of
Him if He
should call me
belly
mother's
my servants,
man or maid
me, 14 what would I do when God
make
him
into
as well?
rose up?
15 Did
account?
Did He
not
not
form
He
us
in
womb?5
16 How 17
that would
ambush at
I
could
withhold pleasures
from
the poor or drain a widow's eye,
bread alone, not sharing it with the fatherless, when for a father? 18 From my mother's belly I was 19 -Whenever I saw a man who was lost, without
or even eat a crust of
they had
grown
mother's6
their
up
with me
guide.
clothing, nothing to cover his pitiful state, 20 damn if his loins didn't bless
because he (knew that he
me of
could
always)
himself
warm
with the
shearing
sheep.
my 21 If
ever
I brandished
hand
a
against the
fatherless because I
22 let my shoulder fall from its the joint, 23 because divine torment would fill me bear its weight. at
standing
24 If
ever
or rejoiced
ever
I
the gate,
saw
I
placed
in the
my
confidence
greatness of
my
the radiance of the
in gold,
wealth or
light,
socket or with
fear
arm
and
I
help
break
at
could not
gold my security, 25 found in my hand; 26 if walking in splendor, 27 and
or called
the
my
saw
fine
bounty
or the moon
my heart secretly attracted, placed my fingers to my lips to kiss them, 28 that too would have been a juristic perversion for I would have forsaken God with
the most
29 come
high.7
Could8
I have
rejoiced when
to life because evil had found them,
by asking for his life have said; "Who will let sin
32 I left traveler.
no
stranger
I
with a curse. us at
so shattered
by
opening'0
go out the
30
struck at those that without
31 Even the
his flesh? We
sleeping
33 Would I have
concealed perversion was
hardship
out of
giving my
men of
will not
doors but
be
my
hate
me or
palate over to
own
tent would
satisfied."9
opened
like (some)
my doors to the
man ('adam) or my in my bosom 34 through terror of the great multitude? or family disgrace that I would stand petrified, not daring to
way?"
covered over
sins
166
Interpretation
35 Who
let the
or
answer,
find
will
36 I'll
will also
has
man who
hoist13
it up give him
listen? Well, here is my
someone to
on
it down in
a quarrel against me write
my shoulders,
an account of
or wear
it
round me
my every step
and
I
Almighty
Let the
writ:
like
a
book.
37 But I
a crown.
it to him
will present
as a
prince!14
38 But if my own land cries out against me, its furrows weeping together, and 39 claims that I have eaten its produce without payment and snuffed out the life of its owners, 40 then may thorns grow in that place for wheat and foul for
weeds
barley.15
THE WORDS OF JOB ARE
TAM!'6
Comments
1. and
Berith
karafi, literally, "I have
legalistic turn
Have rocks
no
FEAR
in the field,
and can even within
of phrase than
be
of
beasts
the
and the
beasts
used to refer
it the full tension
and
It is
Eliphaz
uses
of the earth, of
formal
covenant."
cut a
for
fields
the
you
have
bring
will
to the legal forms of a
contradictory
a much more
in 5:22-23:
a covenant with the
you
peace,
marriage.
felt
interweaving
The
at
verse
holds
the end of the
last chapter between sociality and the need for autonomous understanding. As the tension in this verse implies, sexuality is claimed by both nature and by convention. What seems natural and direct for the one requires law and cere mony for the
Job, by
This inner
other.
the pre-eminently
cutting himself
off
from the
conflict
is felt
as guilt.
entering into a covenant, is sociality. Human sexuality, in
socio-political act of
most primal
form
of
its ambiguities, is central, then, to all this disarray. In giving immortality, it is another key to our autonomy, but in so doing, it our
lack
immortality,
of
for
our weakness and need
to our sociality. Again the two are
linked,
and
others.
in their
It
us
a
kind
of
reminds us of
is, then,
also
key
opposition give rise
to
shame and guilt.
But how child
know
deep of
are such thoughts?
death
How buried in
When his bottle drops to the floor, the If he cries, it sometimes
sometimes
it does
such
returns, but
not return at all.
among things? Is he
our soul?
What does the
and mortality?
a
thing
thoughts are seeds
sometimes
But how
that can
be
knows that
can
alone.
the notion of mortality, when
it
unthinged
it is broken
Newtonian inertia
ever
is
no more.
and ugly, a
and
thing
like the bottle? How many of on the fringe of his horizon?
Is this early feeling full blown, to
comes
what was
he know that he too is
that have become buried
When the bottle drops he is
soul than the notion of
child
of
loneliness
what allows
itself deeper into
dig sounded, deep
as that was?
our
The Book of Job
167
A child must be confounded when he hears of a time when his father was a little boy, when his father was he, and he was not. What role does it play in his imagination that his father was once too small to protect? Does it carry a scent of the notion
2. In
God,
that one
he himself
day
between Job
spite of all the rift
between Job
or
Job,
and
will protect another?
one
thing
his
and
friends,
between Job
or
and
be held in common; on all called but Justice is
seems to
"manliness,"
hands round, not wealth or what is sometimes seen to be the highest human virtue. There is also, at least on Job's part, the feeling that there is some common understanding concerning what things are just
and what
that
understanding
The
things
are
might
unjust, regardless
however
of
rough and readymade
be for Job.
disagreement, however,
seems to center
itself
on a question
justice. Job believes in that guarantor, but
the guarantor of that
he can see nothing guarantied. 3. There is something of the oxymoronic tween the legal and the prelegal.
concerning his own
with
eyes
4.
about
this phrase. It hovers be
"eating"
5. This translation requires reading berhem for barehem (see Gordis, The Book of Job, Jewish Theological Seminary- of America, 5738, p. 348). In the note to 3:11, there was a brief discussion of the importance of the "womb"
words words at
"belly."
In that
and
have for
each of the
note
I discussed the importance these two
three speakers. But
now
We
must
take a second look
Job.
This can
chapter either
tell,
an
honest
is
or
leads up to Job's last to recount his way
attempt
his three friends that his
assure
justice,
as
have
actions
that term is understood
by
the
words. of
life.
always
They are, so far as one They are intended to
been in
tradition, the fathers,
accordance with and
the law. For
the tradition, it is the guarantor who stands behind this understanding.
Job's position, however,
seems more
Job 31:15
who made me
Even
Did
not
He
Did He
not
form
at the
Job 1:21
very
us
beginning
Naked I
in the
of
the
came out of
nearly in my
expressed
mother's
by
belly
the words
make
him
as well?
same womb?
book, Job had
my
mother's
belly
said:
and naked
I
shall return
there.
In
verse
15, Job implies
fers from the foundation
as understood
tions are closely connected to
bring
men
autonomy.
together.
his understanding of justice dif the tradition. For each, the founda
that what supports
what we
by
have
called
sociality, the forces
As hitherto understood, sociality
stood
in
which
opposition to
168
Interpretation It concealed the sociality had become a painful world. the understanding, for autonomy in very brutal ways. In his former
For Job, the
human
need
womb, which could rest
world of
We
undisturbed and
wholly
Job 3:19
Small
beginning
are
of
do indeed
and the slave
different Job,
Flood. It
is free
proper
be
these incidences or
world
up
characters
is
from
until
one original
the time of the
however,
that after Noah's drunken spree,
noted
his lord.
a
give an account of the coming-to-be of all men
must
of
one who
tell the story of the development of that
and
man,
other.
to any
later coming together. wholly foreign to the Bible, but they must be under context. The first ten chapters of the book of Genesis
are not
their
unrelated
is beginning to spell out to what the comic Job had said in Chapter 1. Verse 15 have a more cosmic origin and have its roots in an
to see a
indicates that sociality may original unity rather than in Such thoughts
wholly
where each was a place of quietness
great, all are there,
and
himself the implications
stood within
death,
to
was often related
ever mentioned again either
not one of
in the Torah
in
or
The names Adam, Eve, the Garden of Eden, Cain, Abel, his ark, are totally dropped from the text. Once the covenant has been made between God and the animate world, only it is to be relied upon, and All is forgotten in nothing is to be established on a more primitive foundation.
the earlier prophets.
Noah
and
Noah's drunken spree, became
aware of
D. Sacks, A
1990].) If Job,
his
and
Commentary
on the
his
need
tempest. what
Perhaps these things
to raise those
Making
clear
lies beneath the
so much
feared
of ultimate
lack 8.
of
not
in
very
he
spoke of
agreement
clear
implications that he
imply becoming
wishes
to
Job, but they do indicate
eventually of
send
him into the
this way of understanding
must
face the
"a brother to the
to make clear to his friends that
concerning the place of
they may disagree
he
world which
Jackal."
they
justice in human
about the nature of
ac
its foundations.
"her."
and
his friends
importance,
sensitivity to
Greenberg
"if"
an
having its justification
as
which would
to himself the
tion no matter how much
is
are not
difficulties
however, Job
in fundamental
6. Literally, 7. This Job
sociality
surface would
when
For the present, are all
sees
that each will receive his just rewards, but in some
unity, the distinction between autonomy and sociality begins to
of original
evaporate.
Book of Genesis [Lewiston, NY: Mellon Press,
be the case,
as seems to
a guarantor who guarantees
form
only Ham, the cursed one, perhaps by accident, (For a further discussion, see Robert
antediluvial origins.
beauty
on
starts off with
clause, but
share: that neither wealth nor
although the verse shows that
Job's
"Did
beauty
but justice,
this is not due to any
part.
I"
and the
neither one works as well
Revised Standard translates it
in light
of
as
the verse as a whole.
The Book of Job 9. Job is
pleased and confident that
his followers honor justice
they honor their leader. It is indeed a sign of his 10. The theme of dele^ and of "doors,"
part of our story.
The
subject
that the messengers made,
Gen. 18:1
of
opening
Abraham
appeared to
his
important
an
is comparing the two
visits
to Abraham:
one
The LORD the
is
petah,
strikes one as one
more than
leader.
virtue as a
"openings,"
first
169
tent
in the heat
by
the oaks of
of the
Mamre,
as
he
sat at
day. (3)
the other to Lot:
Gen. 19:6
Lot
In
each case
in
question
in the
used
a
house. Houses have doors, doors that
He said, "Please, my lords, way."
They
your
far
biguously
used
The story to
11:6),
as
of
Abraham
open and shut.
said,
"No;
house
turn aside to your servant's
feet;
rise early night in the
then you can
and
and go on
square."
we will spend the
tell, is the first time
one can
word
openings.
spend the night, and wash your
so
him, (4)
after
passage as a whole.
Tents have only
a tent.
Gen. 19:2
That,
door
shut the
the number in parentheses indicates the number of times the
is
Lot lived in lived in
door to the men,
went out of the
"house"
the word
was
unam
to refer to an actual physical structure.
doors, in
originates
Gen. 19:5ff
and
which
Lot, like
with
the story of the city (see note
violence:
they
tonight?
called to
Bring
out of the
Lot, "Where
are the men who came to you
may know the door after him.
them.''
them out to us, so that we
door to the men,
daughters
two
begins
who
have
shut
not
known
let
a man;
me
Lot
went
Look, I have
.
bring
them out to
do nothing to these men, for But they replied, they have come under the shelter of my "Stand And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and you, and do to them as you please; only
roof."
back!"
he
the
order
we must
being
struck with
both
small and great, so that
at the
deep
full
range of all
open
worse with you than with
inside
them,
Lot,
and came near
reached out their
and shut the
men who were at were unable
the
to
the fact that Job's
door
find
hands
door. And
the
of the
house,
door. (6)
"door,"
is
"open,"
the verses in which doors are spoken of as
This list is
doors lead to horror:
men
with
they
significance of
either open or not open.
Often
blindness the
they
deal
against the man
brought Lot into the house
to see the
look
we will
door to break it down. But the
and
In
play the judge! Now Then they pressed hard
would
them."
complete.
170
Interpretation
Judg. 3:25
So they waited until they were embarrassed. When he still did not opened open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and There
them.
The story
lord
was their
lying
dead
on
the floor.
continues
Judg. 19:22
While they perverse
They
lot,
enjoying themselves,
were
surrounded the
said to the old
man who came
house,
man, the
into
your
pounding on the door.
and started
master of
house,
the men of the city, a
house, "Bring
the
so that we
out
the
may have intercourse
with
him."
Judg. 19:27
In the morning her master got up, opened the doors of the house, he went out to go on his way, there was his concubine
and when
lying The story
at the
continues and
2Sam. 13:17
He
door
called the
can seem
"then when
I
young
man who served and
whoever comes out of
from
return victorious
daughter
him
came out to meet
have brought
cannot
down
Judg. 16:3
up, of
They
can
take
by
hold
bar
the
me
back my
her"
(3)
doors
of
with
at
Mizpah;
and
behold, his dances; she
timbrels and with neither son nor and
said,
daughter. And
"Alas, my daughter!
very low, and you have become the cause have opened my mouth to the LORD,
of
and
of
and
lay only
the
doors
until midnight.
of the
all, put them on
hill that is in front
of
Then
at midnight
gate and the two
city his shoulders,
he
rose
up,
posts, pulled them
and carried
them to the
top
Hebron.
lead to fear:
ISam. 3:15
Samuel house
I
vow."
Samson:
But Samson took
said, "Put this
after
trouble to me; for I
great
are torn
and
offering."
when you
him
my house to meet me, Ammonites, shall be the LORD's,
the
the
his only child; beside her he had he saw her, he rent his clothes,
was
threshold.
Jepthah learns:
up by me as a burnt Then Jephthah came to his home
Judg. 11:34
on the
bolt the door
are ominous, as
to be offered
They
her hands
with
the rape of Tamar:
my presence,
joyful, but they
Judg. 11:31
house,
the
includes in
woman out of
They
of
lay
of the
there until morning; then he opened the
LORD. Samuel
doors
was afraid to tell the vision to
of the
Eli
The Book of Job- 111
They
can
be
connected with madness:
ISam. 21:13
So he
and
changed
in their
when
let his
his behavior before them; he He
presence.
pretended to
scratched marks on the
doors
of
be
mad
the gate,
down his beard.
spittle run
and slavery:
Exod. 21:6
his
then the
door
master shall
or the
him before God. He
bring
doorpost;
and
his
shall
master shall pierce
his
be brought to ear with an
awl; and he shall serve him for life.
Deut. 15:17
then you shall take an awl and thrust
door,
he
and
female
regard to your
or
be
shall
it through his
forever. You
your slave
shall
do
earlobe
into
the
the same with
slave.
lamentation:
Zech. 11:1
or are
only
Open
open
for the
2Kings 9:3
LORD: I
flee; do shall
so that
fire may devour
your cedars!
taking flight: of
anoint you
oil,
pour
king
over
it
on
his head, and say, 'Thus says Then open the door and
Israel.'
linger."
not
The dogs
2Kings 9:10
doors
sake of
Then take the flask the
or the
doors, O Lebanon,
your
shall eat
her."
bury
Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, opened the door and fled.
and no one
Jerusalem
opened
Then he
are shut:
And I
Neh. 7:3
until
said to
the sun is
them shut and of
Jerusalem,
them, "The
hot;
gates of
are not to
while the gatekeepers are still
bar the doors. Appoint
some at their watch
guards
be
standing guard, let
from among the inhabitants
posts, and others before their own
houses."
When it began to be dark
Neh. 13:19
sabbath, I
they
at the gates of
commanded that the
should not
be
servants over the
doors
should
Jerusalem before the
be
shut and gave orders that
opened until after the sabbath.
gates, to
prevent
And I
any burden from
door is only
Prov. 18:16
A
a
thing
gift opens
to be hoped for:
doors; it
my
brought in
on
being
the sabbath day.
or an open
set some of
gives access to the great.
172
Interpretation
God has
opened
Ps. 78:23
them, but only the Yet he
commanded the skies above, and opened the
Perhaps that is why God Gen. 6:16
Make opening decks.
Gen. 7:16
never
taught Noah how to
for the ark,
a roof
of the ark
Abraham had
innocent people,
him;
commanded
and
finish it
and
in its side;
And those that entered, had
in heaven:
ones
make
it
LORD
of
heaven;
door.
make a
to a cubit above; and put the
lower,
with
female
male and
the
doors
of all
second, and third
flesh,
in
went
as
God
him in.
shut
opening and Lot had a door. Openings are the place of like Tamar and Uriah who in their innocence trusted
an
people
too much.
Gen. 38:14
her
she put off
widow's
garments,
up, and sat down at the opening of
Timnah. She given to
2Sam. 11:9
him in
But Uriah
When Judah
at
people also
Num. 16:27
was grown
and
to Egypt
returned man
in
die
at
Abiram; of their
is
yet she
on
the
had
road
not
openings, but
expecting to be
all the
accused of
they
of
Joseph's house
are all
bad
and spoke with
people
from-
like Korach:
the dwellings of Korah, away Dathan, Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the
got
to
been
an opening:
went up to the steward opening to the house.
and
up,
opening of the king's house with did not go down to his house.
the
So they
veil, wrapped herself
which
marriage.
friendly
a
So they him
Some
by
Shelah
slept at the
his brothers
and
were met
Gen. 43:19
that
his lord,
servants of
theft, they
saw
put on a
Enaim,
tents, together
with their
wives, their children,
and
opening little
and their
ones.
and
Sisrah;
Judg. 4:20
He
said to
her, "Stand
comes and asks
and
the
at
the
you, 'Is anyone
opening
of the
here?'
say,
tent,
and
if anybody
'No.'"
bad Abimelech:
Judg. 9:52
Abimelech to the
opening
came to the of
tower, and fought against it, burn it with fire.
the tower to
and came near
The Book of Job also
173
in this group is:
Deut. 22:21
then
they
because
bring
shall
father's house
young woman out to the opening of her her town shall stone her to death,
the
and the men of
she committed a
disgraceful
herself in her father's house. So
act
in Israel
by
prostituting from your
you shall purge the evil
midst.
We
include Jezebel, but
can also
2Kings 11:16
The Tent
as we shall
So they laid hands on her; to the king's house, and there
Meeting, The Tabernacle,
of
see,
she
doesn't really
horses'
she went through the she was put to
and the
Court
count.
opening
death.
all
had openings, but
through them all.
we will not go
Exod. 33:9
When Moses and stand at the
entered the
opening
tent, the
of the
tent,
descend
pillar of cloud would and the
LORD
would speak with
Moses.
But then the opening fell into hard times: The dream
of openness
had
come
to an end.
ISam. 2:22
Now Eli
Israel,
was very old. He heard all that his sons were doing to all how they lay with the women who served at the entrance
and
to the tent of meeting.
Although the Tent was
of
Meeting
will
be
mentioned once more
the last time it was ever used so far as we are told. Perhaps
known from the Gen. 4:7
beginning
If sin
is
you
that this experiment in openness was not to last:
do well,
lurking
in the text, that have
we should
will you not
at the
be
accepted?
And if
you
do
not
do well,
opening; its desire is for you, but you must master
it."
First Kings Chapter
6,
verse
31
,
reads
For the opening to the inner sanctuary he doorposts were five-sided.
made
doors
of
olivewood; the lintel
and the
This is the first time the two
words
have
come together.
It is the
building
of
the temple. Art, born of the sons of Cain, has been sanctified and has sanctified many other things. The last time the Tent of Meeting was mentioned, it was to speak of the
the temple,
day
when
and so to
the
be
holy
placed
vessels were
behind
a
taken from the tent to be put into
door.
174
Interpretation
1 Kings 8:4f.
So they brought up the
holy
the
all
vessels that were
brought them who
had
in the tent;
King Solomon
up.
and all the
fear,
twice
will
in the
Israel,
him before the ark,
before him, were with not be counted many sheep and oxen that they could covenant of the Then the priests brought the ark of the
LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary
once
of
congregation
or
so
numbered.
Only
Levites
the
priests and
the
assembled
sacrificing
holy
the tent of meeting, and
LORD,
ark of the
underneath
place,
the wings of the
it actually happen that
a
door is
they
King
be. First
ought to
in
opened
glorious and almost mythical reign of
presented as a vision of things as
house, in
of the
the most
cherubim.
joy
and without
Hezekaiah. It is
we must
to get a
try
the times.
sense of
2Chron. 29:2
He did
2Chron. 29:17
what was
began to sanctify
They
day
on the eighth
LORD;
right in the
for
then
on the
of the month
eight
and on the sixteenth
of the
not
kept it in There
2Chron. 30:26
son of
as
his
of the
first month,
house
of
Israel,
LORD,
the
people should come and
of
and
they finished.
month
make a proclamation throughout all
LORD the God
at
Israel,
keep
the
Jerusalem; for they had
great numbers as prescribed.
joy
was great
David
King
day
came to the vestibule of the
sanctified the
first
from Beer-sheba to Dan, that the passover to the
first
they
days they
day
So they decreed to
2Chron. 30:5
LORD, just
sight of the
David had done.
ancestor
of
in Jerusalem, for
since the time of
Solomon
Israel there had been nothing like this in
Jerusalem. Now
2Chron. 31:1
when all
went out
down the
to the
this was
cities of
Manasseh, Israel
and
of the
Israel
Benjamin,
Azariah,
LORD,
we
and
to
in Ephraim
individual
who was of the
have had
who were present
and
them all. Then all the people of
to their cities, all to their
him, "Since they began
spare; for the
bring
house
properties.
of
Zadok,
the contributions
into
the
have plenty to that we have this
enough to eat and
LORD has blessed his people,
so
supply left Hezekiah set to
great
2Chron. 32:5
Judah
all
broke down the pillars, hewed down the high places and the
they had destroyed
chief priest
answered
house
until
returned
The
and
sacred poles, and pulled
altars throughout all
2Chron. 31:10
finished,
Judah
over."
work resolutely and built up the entire wall that broken down, and raised towers on it, and outside it he built another wall; he also strengthened the Millo in the city of David, and made weapons and shields in abundance. was
All not
of
fear,
this begins when, for the
the words:
first time in the text,
we
hear
with
joy
and
The Book of Job 2Chron. 29:3
In the first
doors
The
next
time we hear those
Isa. 45:1
Thus
have
Our
verse
has felt like "I left
daring
I
of
the
the new life after the
Job
we see
his final
opened
disgrace that I
by family
my doors to the traveler
would stand
petrified,
not
the courage to stand at the opening, while providing a
with
argument of
his
to the culmination of Job's speech. The begin
is based
as we
his way
of
to risk going
This
"perversion,"
of
on
world and
disgrace."
being. His
disgrace"
"family
willingness to
beyond it indicates is here
have discussed it in the
a man
equated with
note
to 11:6. If I
correctly, Job is arguing that the feelings of
understand the grammar
guilt and
from the responsibility we have had to bear for the acts concealed, led to a terror of all that is around us. Like Lot
which stem
perversion,
fathers, if
the fear we
not
have
the city, and to
of
12. And
city.
now we
Eliphaz, Bildad, and ter 19, Job had said: will
they
are
the beginnings of the city leads us deeper and deeper
doors. We therefore
to peer beyond the
Who
door
stranger.
opening "shattered by family
that
time in the whole of the Bible that a
doors but
out of
are now quite close
the concept
other
opening?"
stand at the
the
only
sleeping
so shattered
11. We
of
of
LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I before him and strip kings of their robes, doors before him and the gates shall not be closed!
in Job is
to go out the
Here
not
beginning
the
at
an entrance.
door for the
ning
is
words
says the
no stranger
was
.
opened the
grasped to subdue nations
to open
.
his reign, in the first month, he LORD and repaired them.
of the
from Babylon:
return
.
year of
house
of the
175
But Job
have the
such a
rest of
into
stand petrified and cannot allow ourselves
now stands at
book in
our
those who
the opening.
hands. It
have
contains the speeches of
a quarrel against
Job. In
Chap
find a place that my words may be written 'down? Who will see to it inscribed in the Book. With stylus of iron and with lead incised in the
Rock forever?
The two books Job longed for have become which each
has
by implication, 13.
is
book. It is
tried to articulate the ground upon which the horizon under which
he
a
dialogue in
he stands, and, if only
stands.
"raise"
14. Here Job tion
one
seems
not possible
to be clear that a complete articulation of
except
in the
context
of a
complete
thought and hence the accusations of those who appose
his
own posi
articulation of
him.
the
176
Interpretation
These accusations, however, speeches,
over which there
actions, or,
15. As
as
we
is
be
must
still a
he
weighed
living
in
not
the
but in
controversy,
and
justice.'
Job
no
understands their position.
the ultimate value of the purely human
Such things
be
must still
Bildad's last
are a counterpart to
For them, Job is
injustice,
indeed
perspective
It is
voiced, there
16. The
doggedly now
s
his
it
perhaps
injustice,
is
his
of
he is, therefore,
and
no proof with regard
to
concerning the just and the
through
40, Job's last words,
Chapter 25.
They
state the
possible.
understandable
would
But if that understanding of the world and to misinterpret any definite act of Job's specific act of
He has
speech at the end of
an unjust man.
and
foundation,
Verses 38
open.
parameters within which mutual existence
claim that
of
his friends
of view
point
From the
concerning the true foundations of friends, Job's understanding of justice has
unjust.
Job
of
light
step."
puts it, "my every have seen, there is a disagreement between Job
an unjust man.
light the
that
they
should pro
be wrong of them not to do so. in it should lead them so
man's place
him unjustly of some how that complaint may have been
as
then regardless of
to accuse
longer be any grounds for mutual respect. tarn, which, for the sake of unity, I have rather slavishly
can no
word
"simple"
rendered as
be faced in
all
its
throughout the whole of the
translation,
and
must
complexity.
The first thing to be pointed out is its critical importance for nearly all the to be heard in the Book of Job. In that sense, at least, it binds the proem (Chapters 1 and 2) to the rest of the book. For each it is a virtue, if not the voices
highest
virtue.
other matters.
Satan, Zophar,
This
remains true no matter
Even his
how
knows that the
wife
they may disagree about issue is his TAM. Only the
much
central
the Voice in the Tempest never mention
and
it.
God 1:1
He
was a tarn and straightforward man, a
GOD-FEARING
man who
turned away from evil.
1:8
He is
a tarn and straightforward man, a
who turns
2:3
He is
away from
a tarn and straightforward man, a
turned away
from
GOD-FEARING
man and one
evil.
GOD-fearing
man and one who
evil.
Job's Wife 2:9
And his
wife said to
him, "You
are still
holding
tight to your tarn.
Eliphaz 4:6f.
But may your ways?
not
that
FEAR itself be
Think back now,
who
your
surety, and your
being innocent
was ever
hope,
the tarn of
lost?
Bildad 8:20
But surely God will neither have the hand of the evildoer.
contempt
for
a tarn man nor strengthen
Job 27:5
Even till death I
shall not turn
my tarn from
me.
111
The Book of Job Elihu
36:4
One
Although
totally
has
who
tarn
knowledge is among
in his
each praises the tarn
you.
way, it
own
is
not clear that
they
would
agree on which things are tarn and which are not.
Even the beginnings
meaning
of the word are somewhat unclear.
Its
most
rudimentary
be "finished":
seems to
1 Kings 7:22
On the tops
lily-work. Thus the
of the pillars was
work of the
pillars was tarn.
The
"finished"
has
word
the assembly line is all ished."
This
on the other
"finished"; but
it, however. A
new car
just
off
after
"finish"
that process leads to
matter whether
to
its first bad wreck, it is also "fin is felt more strongly in Hebrew than in English because is felt to be the end of a process in either case, no
antithesis
the Englsh word
duality
a certain
hand, does
excellence or
to destruction. The word tarn,
not quite contain the notion of process
it to
to hold
gether.
When that
Gen. 47:18
came to
tarn, they
year was
him the
following
year, and
hide from my lord that our money is tarn; and the herds of cattle are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.
him, "We
said to
From here it of excellence.
that
acquires
Think
1 Kings 6:22
of
special
inner sanctuary he
In that sense, it
came
be
2Sam. 20:18
Then
she
or of a
lamb worthy
Exod. 12:5
of
at
sheep
or
being
from
In his final song, David The God
2Sam. 22:33 be
tarn.
said,
even
human
"They
and so
used
shall
applied to
with
gold,
a
kind
fine furniture in
order
the whole altar that
that the
belonged to the
overlaid with gold.
used of
Abel';
Your lamb
be tarn;
might
it is house
overlaid the whole
house
inquire
as
implies
of the word which
meaning
"finish"
the word
Next he whole
cannot
in
be
plans:
used to
it
say in the
old
days, 'Let
them
tarn."
was
a sacrifice:
tarn a year-old male; you
may take it from the
the goats.
sings:
who
has
girded me with strength
has
set
free my
path to
Interpretation
178 if
as
in fetters
men were
which prevent them
from
being
tarn, as if the tarn were
somehow man's natural state.
This man, the man who is tarn, as we saw in the Chapter 1 1 is neither the man of the city, nor the man
long
When the boys
field,
up, Esau was a
was a tarn
"innocent,"
being
either
But of
because
one
is
a certain man
Israel
.
.
man,
in the
unaware of certain critical
1 Kings 22:34
or
grew
Jacob
while
can also mean
while
the man
in tents.
Gen. 25:27
It
at the end of
field, but
of the
,
living
note
skillful
in
living
sense of
a
hunter,
a man of the
tent.
having
committed a crime
facts:
drew his bow
in his
and
tarn struck the
king
.
not capable of suspicion.
Gen. 20:5f.
"Did he
not
himself say to me, 'She is my
sister'?
And
she
herself said, 'He is my brother.' I did this in the tarn of my heart and hands." the innocence of my Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the tarn of your heart; furthermore
it
was
let It is
from
also used
I
who
you touch
kept
you
from sinning
to describe the individual
Therefore I did
individual
virtue of an
whatever virtue might give excellence as a
Gen. 6:9
against me.
not
her.
founder
or
man apart
leader:
These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, tarn in his generation; Noah walked with God. When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to
Gen. 17:1
Abram,
and said to
him, "I
am
God
Almighty;
walk
before me,
and
be
tarn.
In
answer
to Bildad's
Job 8:20
statement:
But surely God will neither have contempt for hand of the evildoer.
a tarn man nor
strengthen the
Job
says:
Job 9:20ff.
I
am tarn
but He
will show me perverse.
have only contempt for my life. guilty He destroys all.
I
care and or
For Job, "the
twisted"
is the only time the
'aqaSh
.
.
.
am
tarn
but I
no
Therefore I say
longer
that tarn
emerges as the prime opposite of the tarn
word occurs
in the text,
and seems to
be
a more
This
forceful
The Book of Job for the term, 'aven, bent,
substitute
have been translating
the word we
179
as
"per
verse."
Prov. 10:9
Whoever
('aqash) Prov. 28:18
One
who walks
('aqash) What
appears
appear as
"the
walks
ways will
ways will
to be tarn
twisted"
in
tarn walks securely,
be found in
but
whoever
follows
twisted
out.
tarn will
be saved, but
whoever
follows
twisted
fall into the Pit.
from Job's human
from the divine
perspective
perspective.
And
yet
seems
Job
sees
to him to
his
tarn as
his only way to justice. 31:6-8
Let Him
weigh me on the scales of
my tarn. If my step has eyes, or a taint stuck
my crop be uprooted. Even till death I shall
27:05
justice,
God
and then
will
know
of
from the way, my heart gone after my to my hand, then let me sow, but another eat, or let wandered
not turn
my
tarn
The ambiguity inherent in the tarn may be
from
seen
me.
by
comparing Eliphaz's
statement:
4:6f.
But may your ways?
with
not
that FEAR itself be your surety, and your
Think back now,
whoever
being
innocent
hope,
was ever
the tarn of
lost?
Job's
12:4
But God
Is the tarn
now
and
I have become
have him
related
a
answer'
to Eliphaz's
joke to my friends, one who joke, a tarn, innocent joke!
would
'Call
on
-a
simple acceptance or to
Job's
simple ques
tion? The one looks to the other as a joke. And now Job's whole speech has
been
called tarn.
The Book
of
Translation
and
Job
Commentary
on
Chapters 32 through 38
Robert D. Sacks St. John 's College, Santa Fe
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
1 Now, the three 2 But
eyes.
Elihu1
considered
himself
more
just than God. 3 And his
anger
his three friends because they could find no answer but merely Job. 4 Now Elihu held back his words and waited for Job, because
against
condemned
they
reply to Job because he was right in his own Ram3 of the House of was angry at Job;
Barachel,2
the son of
he"
fuming, because burned
men ceased to
than he was. 5
were all older
from the
6 Then Elihu
But,
when
son
of
Barachel the
Buzite6
young in years, and you are most venerable, to declare my thoughts in front of you. 7 I
a
breath
great who are
saw
that no answer came him.5
answered
and so
I
and
shrunk
said to myself
said:
back
"I
and
'Let the
am
but
FEARED
generations
8 But surely there is a spirit in him understanding. 9 It is not the
wisdom.'
speak, and fullness mortals,
Elihu
these three men, anger burned within
mouths of
of years proclaim
of the
wise,
nor
Almighty is it the
that gives
judgment.7
elders who understand thoughts.'
11 I 10 Thus, I say unto you, 'Hear me. I myself shall declare my have waited in expectation for your words and listened for your understanding while you searched for something to say. 12 I observed you carefully and there was none
to confute Job nor was there an answer to his assertions from any of
you.8
saying We have found wisdom; God will defeat him not 14 Now, he has set out no words against me and I shall not reply using your reasonings, 15 for they have been shattered, and can no longer reply. All mean
13 Beware
ing'0
has left
16 I
man.9
of
them."
waited
in
expectation
till
they had finished I
speaking, till
they
stood and
the matter. I myself
longer reply. 17 But my in my belly declare my thoughts. 18 I am full of words, and the presses upon me; 19 my belly is like wine that has no vent, like jugs of new now
could no
shall give
side of
wind12
shall
ready to burst; 20 I shall speak, and it will expand me; I shall open my lips and reply. 21 I will show no favor or flatter any man ('adam); for I know wine
off."
no
flattery. 22 Or may my The first thirty-one
bers 2
and
3,
and
maker soon
chapters of
and
future issue.
Spring 1998,
me
the translation and commentary appeared
Volume 25, Numbers 1
interpretation,
carry
Vol. 25, No. 3
2
of
in Volume 24, Num will appear in a
Interpretation. The balance
294
Interpretation
Comments
1. There is something
mysterious about the sudden appearance of this man,
mystery only increase as internal problems of the same many and the
we read on.
will
As
sort to account
passage was added as a whole without much regard
2. Otherwise 3. Given the
descendent at
least
of
other
3
Ram the
son of
not
and
6. Let
us
for the
see, there are too
assuming the
by
greater context.
is naturally led to assume that Elihu is a Hezron. This would place him as either part of or
cases, the
perfectly 5. Literally, "and his
verse
them
unknown.
close to the royal
4. It is
we shall
for
line
reader
of the
clear who
House
the
David.
of
antecedent
fuming."
nose was
is.
This is the
same expression used
is commonly, though not exclusively, used look once more at the tree of generations
of
in
God.
TERACH I Sarah
-
Haran
-
-Abraham
-Katura
Shua
Lot Milkah
Nahor-
I Bethual I I Isaak-
I Uz
Buz
1
-Rebekah
Laban I
Esau
Jakob
Leah
-
Eliphaz
Judah
I
Perez
Taman
Hezron Ram Aminadab
Nahshon
Salmon Boaz
Eliphaz
Bildad
Job
Obad
Barachel I
Jesse
Elihu?
David Barachel I
Elihu?
Iskah
295
The Book of Job As
in
Judah,
David.
fact,
something misleading about the genealogy of Elihu first introduced to him, we were told that he
was
2. When
verse
we were
the House of Ram. We then naturally inferred that he was a descendant
was of of
see, there
we can
as given
hence
and
According
part
brother
7. One
and authority.
help being
mild, but he
respectful and
be
initially by
moved
to speak
speaks of the
feels in rising
feels strongly that he must speak 8. Again he presents himself others.
Ram,
unknown
also seems
Several times he
elders, and the FEAR he
listen to
the House of
line,
royal
descendant
a
is, in
Buz,
of
the
Uz.
of
cannot
to, the
close
this turns out to be deceptive. He
6, however,
the progeny of some otherwise
younger
can
least
or at
of,
to verse
this young man. He seems with an air of
deference he is
understanding to pay to his
wont
Nonetheless, he
to speak among them.
out.
as
young man who was willing to deserved to be heard before he
a patient
He implies that Job's
arguments
answered.
9. This
sentence
is
the grammer
is
Greenberg
ambiguous.
have found the
wise
translation may
help:
"[Lest] [you
to
somewhat critical to our attempt
course; God
say] [we have
translates:
"I fear that
defeat him
will
Elihu, but
understand
you will
man.'"
A
not
found] [wisdom] [God]
say 'We literal
more
[will defeat
him] [not]
[man]."
Since Hebrew does
not use quotation
we are
marks,
left
with
two possible
readings:
"Lest
you
say, 'We have found
"Lest
you
say, 'We have found
It's hard, if
not
wisdom:
man.'"
defeat him
will
not man."
wisdom,'
God
for
to know
impossible,
God
will
defeat him
not
certain either way.
The first reading would mean that the others wrongfully claim to have found a certain wisdom, and that their wisdom consists of the will
defeat him,
believing be
a
they have found
10.
is
human
or
understanding.
attempt
to his questions
The
three of
other
which
is
available
his speech, then,
remainder of
to answer Job.
interpretation, he is accusing them of believing that wisdom with which they can defeat Job, whereas in
a certain
defeat him
will
we can
man."
If this is how the
not
spoken with more
verse
is
to
be
remainder of
his
his piety, like Job, does
not
be asserting that the than human authority.
only take him to
"words"
1 1. As share the
we
began to
horizons
of
see
in
verse
judgment."
him, too,
an older world "spirit"
or
9, Elihu, in
the fathers: "It is
elders who understand
12.
Job
knowledge that "God
Elihu is accusing the
to the second
fact only "God understood,
other words
no answer to
purely human
According
speech
In
that there is
the realm of
within will
man."
not
The
not
spite of
the great who are wise, nor
words
"no
has been shattered, but
longer"
as yet we
seem
do
not
to
imply
is it the that
know the
for
cause.
296
Interpretation
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
1 "Attend my words, Job. Listen well to each utterance that I make. 2 Be hold, I open my lips, and the tongue in my palate begins to speak. 3 My speech is
heart. The thoughts
an upright
God has
made
me,
5 Answer me, if
6 Here I am, just from clay, 7
8 Oh,
have
before God,1
it into my ear,
spoken
'free
of
10 'He finds
me,'8
11 'He
puts
4 The
spirit of
life.
me and
take your stand.
though I too was nor
you,
does the
nipped2
pressure
I
heavily.3
too
pure,'5
am
sion about enemy.'10
your case out
gives me
and terror of me will not overwhelm
you
9 T
speak with clarity.
Almighty
of the
wished, standing in for
as you
put upon you weigh
word.4
Lay
you can.
my lips
of
breath
and the
to oppose
ways
my feet in the
I
and
transgression,'6
stocks."1
T
hear the
still
clean,'7
am
me,'9
'He
and
sound of each
'There is
'He thinks
scrutinizes
no perver
his
of me as
my every
wander
ing."2
12 But in this
you
13
than any mortal.
have
Why
not acted
do
justly. I
you vie with
will answer
Him? He is
you, for God is greater
not obliged
to answer on
15 It every count. 14 Yet God may speak once, even twice, but none take the when falls upon be in a or in a vision of night, dream, heavy may sleep beds.14 mortals as they slumber in their note.13
16 He
unveils the ears of mortals and places
17 to turn (gebher)}%
by
('adam) away from
man
He
will
his
keep
soul
action and
His
seal upon
conceal16
back from the pit,
and
their
pride
discipline,15
from the
man
his life from perishing
sword.17
the
20 his bones ceaselessly twist in food.19 His life renders his bread loathsome, and his soul takes no delight in fine 21 His flesh is devoured, no longer to be seen, and his bones are ground away 19 He is tried
and
disappear.20
by
in his bed
pain
22 His
soul
[all that] brings death.21. 23 If there only were
near
to the Muck and his life is
messenger,22
for
an
him,24
interpreter23
24 he
one
in
a
[attracted]
to
thousand, to
have mercy on him and (ladam) 'Redeem25 him from descending into the Muck, for I have found his ran 25 'Let his flesh become brighter than youth, and let him return to his
tell man say:
is
a
draws
strife.18
and
what
right
would
som.'26
days.'
springtime
26 Let him but face27
supplicate unto
with shouts of
joy, for He
God
and
shall return
he
shall
be
accepted and see
to mortal man his sense of
His
right
27 Let him only stand squarely in front of mortals and say, T have I have dealt perversely with what was right, and my accounts have not sinned; been 28 Thus He shall redeem his soul from passing into the Muck; eousness.
settled.'
and
his life
shall see
29 Yes, God
30
to
31
will
in the do
all
light.28
these things two or three times for a man
(gebher),
bring his soul back from the Muck to be made bright by the light of life. Pay heed, Job, and hear me; be silent and I will speak. 32 If you have the
The Book of Job
Well,
words, respond to me.
have nothing, then listen to
for I
speak!
Be
me.
wish
I
silent and
justify
to
297
33 But, if
you.
you
wisdom."29
will teach you
Comments 1. hen 'ani kephikha f'el before God
Greenberg
translates:
"You
I
and
are
the same
"
The Revised Standard translates: "Behold, I am towards God as The King James translates: "Behold, I am, according to thy wish in
are."
you
God's
stead."
It is
is
clear that this
Elihu is, be. It is
least
or at
also a
means
claims to
passage to
root ph
but its
or
our attempt to understand who
and perhaps even
believes himself to
by
understand, as you can tell
the vast
lies in the meaning of the word The initial (ke) primarily
"mouth."
from the
"as,"
meaning
vary greatly in individual cases. For means The final (kf'a)
affect can
"which"
"that"; but
instance,
'asher means
ending is
a second personal ending.
objective;
when attached to nouns
mean when
be
the translations. The problem
come
"like"
in
a critical passage
he
very difficult
discrepancies in (kephikha). It
who
or
When it is
"
"when."
attached to verbs or prepositions
possessive.
The
is
problem
what
it is
they
strung out together. The word kephi usually means something like but looking at several examples may help:
to,"
"according
to"
Exod. 28:32
Each morning let each man gather "according woven work "like/after the fashion of a coat of
Lev. 25:53
"In
Num. 7:5
Each
man
Num. 35:8
Each
man
Zech. 2:4
These
Exod. 16:21
with"
his
accordance
to"
"according "according
are the
horns
to"
years
let him
his
work.
his
share.
which scattered
his
eating.
mail.
repay.
Judah, "so
that"
no man could
lift his head. Therefore I
Mai. 2:9
also
have
made you contemptible and that"
the
IChron. 12:23
"since/according
people
And these came to
are
As
we can
Each
see, the
comes to
having
provides
a pattern
number of
you
the
bands
have
to the word of the to"
man
"according
his
not
of
Saul
over to
him
Lord.
"the
as."
same
The
is in Exodus 28:32, but even there totally different kind of thing. In all
that meaning a
all
ways.
work.
expression never means
for
base before kept my
of the armed troops who
David in Hebron to turn the kingdom
"according 2Chron. 31:2
the
to
to."
closest
one
it
ever
thing only
other cases
it
is only one other means "proportion Unfortunately, "according instance in which the object is a thinking, speaking being, IChronicIes 12:23, to"
there
or
words."
clearly means "according to His le is the first / in 'el. In general, it is look at to
and there the expression
The English
next part
"to."
word
Strictly
speaking, Hebrew
has
no
equivalent
independent
word
to the
for
"be-
298
Interpretation
come."
Thus ha'iti
king,"
to
was
the verse, hen
words of
I."
neni, mean "here am such
When
ha'
king"; but
id fmelech
"I
means
king."
'ani, usually
f
,
hinone word
into
collapsed
together with the
put
le '
hinnenu
as
was
simply "I became
or more
The first
"I
melech means
finds
one
expressions
you"
"we have become
abhdechah,
slaves
(Genesis
to
50:18). 2.
"Nipped"
is
I
a good word which
confess to
have
"nipped"
from Green
berg. 3. For Elihu, Job is sphere of
human
right.
The
cognition can
the
anguished perplexities that arise within
find for
from
themselves no solution
its
within
border. For him, too, there is a great world out there beyond the human realm. He has already rejected Bildad's Wisdom of the Fathers, own
It is
Job 32:9
is it
the great who are wise, nor
not
the elders who
understand
judgment.
And he has
seen
32:14
the
inadequacy
Now, he has your
of the
human horizon.
set out no words against me and
reasonings, for
they have been
shattered,
I
shall not
and can no
reply using longer reply. All
meaning has left them.
And
he believes he
so
of the
Job 9:34f.
why Job has felt himself drawn to the Chapter 9, Job had said
as
But let Him
his
turn
His terror, then I I
world
understands
Jackal. As early
rod
away from
me and not
would speak out without
FEAR
frighten
of
me with
Him; for in
myself
am none of these things.
and again
Job 13:1 9f
Now,
.
things
as things are
for
me and
I
Your hand from me,
I
can
shall no and
let
only remain silent and perish. But do two longer be hid from your face. Remove not
Your terror frighten
me.
At the heart cannot
of Elihu's understanding of man is the notion that Job's request be fulfilled. Man has not the stamina to face what lies beyond his own
horizons. He the
offers
himself
as one
who,
human sphere,
can
listen to Job's
beyond,
nor
is there
cannot go
4. There is something
directly
to
existence.
him, We
been there from the been saying in
eerie about
and yet there
are not
need
from
beginning
he
that
Job
do
not
arrived and
or not.
way, and
of the
terrors that lie beyond
within the
human
sphere.
any longer. this line. Elihu insists that Job had
is little indication
told when
a rough
knowing
case
He
even seems to
yet most of
his
spoken
was even aware of
know
whether
know
quotations are
what
just
a
Job
his
he had Job has
bit
off.
299
The Book of Job 5. Not found
as
6. Not found
as such.
7. Not found
as such.
8. Not found
as
9. Not found
as such.
such, but
such, but
cf.
8:6, 11:4, 16:17.
cf.
13:26.
10. 13:24 11. 13:27 12. 13.27 13. With
a view to what will
how the
to remind ourselves of
lated "to take a
thing is to
note of allow
up to this
it to become
thing is
note of a person or a
Job 7:8
The and
Job 17:13-15
I
said
in the has
author
a part of our
to
the word that
In general, "to take
point.
not
note, it
following
used
be
wise
have trans
note of a person or
hence,
world, and,
it to become
allow
might
we
"to take
not
a part of our world.
eye that sees me takes no note of me; your eye
is
upon
me,
am not.
If I in
be
must take the
darkness;
Pit to be my home, and spread 'Thou art my
'Mother'
'Sister'
my
couch
and call out
Oh my hopes,
to the maggots,
and
out
Father'
call out to the muck
who will
ever take note of them?
Job 20:9
The
eyes that observed
note of
Job 24:15
An
him in his me"
14. There
That
contact
daily
and
Yet God may
is, for Elihu,
o'er;
they
no
to
longer take
twilight, saying; "No his face.
conceals
speak once, even
which we can
twice, but
has
with
take
take note.
none
the realm beyond man.
see, and yet not "take
note."
keep
those things we would
perceive all
eye will
There
distant from
lives.
Zophar had already Job 20:7-9
own
him have
Exod. 33:20f.
out:
dung
he
"Where is
will ask
find him. He
we shall
it
spelled
like his him
As
he
one contact that man
is sleep; sleep in
we can allow ourselves
our
given
adulterous eye watches at
note of
Job 33:14
him have
place.
recedes
given
o'er;
like
live."
and
be lost in
He flies
no
longer take
thinking
will put you until
Even those
dream The
note of
of what
is
eyes that observed
him in his
said
in
a cleft of the
I have
you shall see
passed
by;
rock; and
while
then I will take
one shall see me a place
my glory
by
passes
me
by
you with
my
away my hand, be
and
seen."
shall not
place.
in the Torah:
rock, and I will cover
my back; but my face
who see
and no one can
he said, "you cannot see my face, for no And the LORD continued, "See, there is
where you shall stand on the
hand
eternity.
off as a
a vision of the night.
they
see, Elihu is not only "But,"
will
he?"
I
300
Interpretation
and
And he said, "Hear my words: When there are prophets among you, I the LORD make myself known to them in visions; I speak to
Num. 12:6f.
in dreams. Not
them all
so with
servant
my
Moses; he is
my house. With him I speak face to face he beholds the form of the LORD. Why
and
Job 7:13-15
Job's
mind
clearly, not in riddles; then were you not afraid
Moses?"
to speak against my servant
Primarily he has in
entrusted with
own statement:
When I said that my bed will show me compassion and my couch bear my complaint, You frightened me with dreams and terrified me with visions and I preferred strangulation and death to my own substance.
Job has already been where he wishes to go in the only way in he has seen for himself that it is no place for waking man.
which
he can,
and
Job is
unjust
because he judges in terms
of
his
Lev. 26:22f.
I
will
let loose
wild animals against
destroy
you of your children and
few in number,
discipline,
you
me, then I too sevenfold
16. "covered 17.
for
and your roads shall
have
not meant
realm of
they
livestock; they
be deserted. If in
back to me, but
hostile to
you:
I
shall
bereave
shall make you spite of this
continue
hostile to
myself will strike you
your sins.
vague
human ken
but to
warn.
intimations
of the
frightful Pit
the Muck. Irrational fear is
It is
to the edge of the pit
us
turned
you, and
never enter.
over"
to punish
has brought
not
will continue
Man, for Elihu, has only
beyond the
your
things that can
own world
only be fairly judged in terms of a world into which he can 15. An act intended to teach, but usually implying force:
18. Job knows this only too well, 7:13-15 cited in note 14.
our we
only way of do not see.
as we
have
seen
knowing in the
that
that our conceit
quotation
from Job
19. And this:
Job 6:7
They
20. And this
Job 30:17
are
like
a contagion
in my
daily
bread.
as well:
By ceases.
night
my bones
are whittled away, and the
lies
God's signpost,
gnawing
never
The Book of Job And more
Job
yet
Job 9:20
He knows this
continues.
complicated,
and
feelings
Though I
am
just my
too well. But for
all
do
of guilt
not of
themselves
Job,
301
the world
imply
is
guilt:
own mouth would condemn me.
21. This seems to be at the heart of Elihu's conviction that man must be kept from peering beyond his own horizon. The human fear of what is beyond the human is a divine gift. The fear of death is a divine rectification of the fascina tion that the human soul
feels for death. So
much
he says, but he does
not
elaborate at this point.
22. Or
"angel"
or some
23. The
has two
word
sense of one who
kind
of one
who
intelligible to
Gen. 42:23
They with
2Chron. 32:31
It
did
live
also
speak two
different horizons,
different lan the
and makes
the other.
not
know that Joseph
in the
officials of
people who
under
them through an
So
can mean
between two
stands
guages, and to that extent thoughts
divine being. See 1:14, 4:18, and 33:2. interpreter," "an in the simple
of more
meanings.
matter of the
Babylon,
understood
them,
since
he
spoke
interpreter.
who
interpreter (or envoys) of the sent to him to inquire about
had been
the
had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in to test him and to know all that was in his heart.
sign that order
Its
by far, however,
more regular
meaning
Isa. 28:22
Now therefore do
for I have heard upon
Various best I
can
Isa. 43:27
not
decree
scoff, or of
scoff:
your
bonds
destruction from
will
the
be
made
stronger;
Lord GOD
of
hosts
the whole land.
attempts
do is to
a
is "to
have been
quote
made
to understand how the two are related. The
Isaiah:
Your first
ancestor
sinned, and your interpreters transgressed against
me.
Job 16:20,
a
on the other
hand,
seems to require
Oh my advocates, my friends, my eyes weep before God. Will no one MAN (gebher) before God as a man ('adam) should do for a friend?
in the
perhaps
sense of those
that can make
For Elihu, Job is right, the human
highest He
something like
court.
must
Job's
be "an
"advocate,"
his
his
case
intelligible to
voice cannot make
"friend,"
cannot
interpreter,"
one who can stand
be just
argue
for
others.
itself heard in the a man
between God
like himsellf.
and man.
Interpretation
302
24. Greenberg's translation: "To declare the
seems
man's
less
man,"
rather than "to a
man"
likely
because it takes f'adam to
which
is
a
bit
strange after
the
"for the
mean
"to tell"; but
word
it is
still
not
impossible.
25. When Pharaoh stubbornly
Exod. 13:15
the
all
firstborn in the land
firstborn that
Like Israel, the
being,
by
first
of
whole of mankind
to let
go, the LORD killed
us
Egypt, from human firstborn
Therefore I
lies in debt for the
of
one richer than
man, it
to
and
will all soon
sons
my
I
conditions of
does
not the means to pay. Man
debt that they have world. It is not his to inquire into
to the
to the LORD every male
sacrifice
but every firstborn
opens the womb,
a
surface
for
of animals.
refused
enlarge
redeem.
their own
not
the
own
its borders. If
not paid
turn itself into Muck.
26. Cf. For I
Isa. 43:3
Egypt
give
27. This world
the home of note
as your ransom,
the
Ethiopia
would conquer all
world of man.
joyous
God,
Holy
and
One
Israel,
of
Seba in
And
You
ps. 74:14
you.
the frightful things that live in the
The terrible face
of
God
would now
on
that
day
crushed
.
the
.
the
head
Lord
of the
shall punish the
Leviathan
become
Leviathan.
and gave
it
as
would stand where
accepting the
to 11:6. Job's old
he
before
could not stand
"perversion"
29. Job has
be
as
notion of
hopes,
ultimate account of soul will
food to
the
the island.
and
laugh
where there was
only horror because the horror would have been banished. 28. Job, for his part, has only to confess to a sin that by its not and cannot know that he has committed. Primarily, as Elihu
any but his
for
man.
people of
means
Savior. I
your
exchange
to 3:8.
Isa. 27:1
Job
the LORD your
"interpreter"
beyond the
See
am
that the
things,
human
will still
redeemed and pass
it
was
all
he does out, this
discussed in that
perspective
"be
nature points
has
a
long
legitimate
heaped together in the
note
place
in
Muck,"
beyond it.
no answer and remains silent.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
1 Then Elihu me,
all you who
choose1
us
for
answered and said:
know, 3 for
2 "Hear my
words ye wise
men; give ear to
the ear tests words as the palate tastes
ourselves what
is
lawful2
so that we
food. 4 Let
may know among ourselves
303
The Book of Job is
what
aside all and
5 Now Job has said; T
good.
claims
my 'The arrow
(gebher) is
for
justice,'4
there like Job who
was
'.
company For he has said, 'It is 10 And so, you
as
if it
has thrown
who
me'5
made against
7 What
man
8 joins
water,7
were
with mortal men of evil?
9
favor.'8
to a man (gebher) that he be in GOD's heart, hear me; far be God from injustice and the 11 As a man (ladam) labors so shall he be recompensed, of no use
men9
from
God
transgression.6
without
drinks up mockery
that
.
judgment
the
those who deal in wickedness and walks
with
Almighty
and
6 T declare false
mortal, though I
was
right'3
am
evil.
of
and wherever a man
wanders, that is where he will find himself. 12 Now surely,
God does
wickedess, nor does the
not cause
13 Who laid Him the and
Him to
charge upon
fruitful
whole of this
care
14 If He
orb?
His breath back into Himself, 15
would return
sound of
my
such
words.
thing
a
flesh
to, he
judgment
Or
aside.
who placed upon
His
could gather
would perish and man
spirit
('adam)
17 Shall
understanding, listen to this. Attend to the
as
even
he that hates judgment bind
One, 18 He
the Magnificent Just
worthless,'
or
cared
turn
earth?
dust.10
to
16 If there is condemn12
all
Almighty
for the
to the nobles, 'You are guilty
who can
say to
Would
up?"
'You
king
a
men,'
19
who shows no
you are
favor to
any liege, or recognizes the prince above the pauper, since they are the works of His hand, every 20 They can die in a moment; the people tremble at midnight, and pass on. one?13
The mighty
turned aside, but
are
the ways of man, and He there
is
has He
Shadow
no
of
shatters
no
it to
[human] hand, 21 for His
his every
Death for the
ever yet accorded
24 He
by
watches
22 There is
steps.
the magnificent, no
to
worker of wickedness
that he go with
man
knowing
God into
how many,
darkness
and
hide in, 23
nor
judgment.14
and sets others
up in
25 Surely, He can recognize their deeds; Everything 26 He slaps them down along with the guilty in full view they all 27 because they turned away from Him and do not comprehend His 28 turns to night,
their place.
are crushed.
and of
eyes are upon
no
ways of needy.15
face,
bringing 29 But,
the cries of the poor unto
He is silent,
when
note16
who will even take
Himself; for He hears If He
who can condemn?
Him, be it
of
a nation or
the cry of the
should
be it
hide His
a single man
(Warn)?17
30
Mankind18
31 For he has have
not
34
not payment
is
Men21
'Job has
polluted
God T
you must
heart,
of
by kingship,
will
seen, teach me. If I have
33 Should tempt? It
has been
said unto
for it be
bear it
done injustice, I
every
you
(gebher)
because
know then, who
37 He
God."
speaks against
transgression,
32 What I
no
had
longer."9
such con
speak!
listen to
lack
adds sin upon
in it
you
say 35 May Job's
me will
insight.'
knowledge, and his words limit, because his answers are no different from
of wickedness.
continually
of you
wise man
spoken without
trials know no
shall persist
required20
answer, not I. Whatever and
those who ensnare the people.
all and offend no more.
36
men"
those of the
slaps us
in the face,
and
Interpretation
304
Comments
1. It is
to note that Elihu
interesting
of choice rather than
in terms
speaks
inquiry.
2.
mishpath
3. "I
Not found
right."
am
But
Job 9:15
plead
as such.
even though
I
But
9:15
in the right
am
still
and
I
10:15:
do it. Yet I
cannot
must
what seems to me just.
for
Well, if I have been guilty
Job 10:15
see
right I have been
is mine, but
the grief
so sated with reproach that no
even when
feeling
of
I
am
honor is left
in me.
4. Job 27:2
By justice,
life
the
of
5. Not found
as such.
6. Not found
as such.
But
And thus I
Job 6:3f.
that
Almighty
the
upon me and
God has
who
thrown aside all
my
[my
claims
for]
soul!
see:
speak without spirit
my
has
embittered
care, for the
drinks in their
arrows of
the
Almighty
are
venom.
as it shows up from the time Job's friends is markedly different from the connotations discussed them in the note to 12:11.
"drinking"
7. The appear
significance of
till the
end of
Elihu's
"tasting"
of
as we
the word
The
complete
Job 6:2-4 all
list
of quotations
Almighty And
And thus I
what of
Let his cruet of
speak without
me and
that
my
spirit
care, for the
drinks in
arrows of
the
venom."
their
one, man, who drinks up
abhorred and corrupted
water!
eyes see
his
own ruin and
let him drink
of the
Almighty's
fury.
What
Job 34:7
in
are
injustice like
Job 21:20
is:
"Would that my indignation could truly be weighed, my calamities laid out together on a scale! then would it raise up even the sands
of the seas.
Job 15:16
speech
man
(gebher) is
there
like Job
who
drinks up mockery
as
if it
were water?
In this
section of the
book,
"drinking"
implies
greedily, the uglinesses of the outside world. For
coming to terms of
with
them.
succumbing to them.
But for Eliphaz
and
a
taking into
oneself, even
Job it is the first step in for Elihu it is only a final way
The Book of Job 8. Not found
deal in
first
guilt
sound
like
has known that way the
so
far
began,
very 9.
much.
and
association, is
he
as
could
thoughtless
indeed. For
serious
tell, he men
Job knows that he has
the
was
have
Job "joins company while it may at
charge that
wickedness and walks with men of
by
questions that
time
Nonetheless, Elihu's
as such.
with those who
first
man
evil,"
a
long
time now Job
to ask in a searching
in thoughtless
raised
305
ways since
the difference counts
no proof that
for
"mortal"
10. Job's
view
man, Elihu argues, presupposes
of
independent
an
world
obeying its own laws and following its own nature. It assumes a world that has been placed into God's hands for safekeeping and to which He therefore has certain of
duties
But there is
and obligations.
no such world.
the world is an expression of His spirit. For
would
be
as
if
dreams. With been
given
1 1 One .
we
to him can
which the word
Job 5:18
had been hauled into to
respect
by
best
God,
see what
has been for He
man
hand
the
of
has
man
to
The
whole structure
demand justice from God
by a character in one of our own being apart from the part that has
court no
God.
Elihu
by
means
considering the
other passages
in
used:
causes pain,
but He binds up, He wounds, but His hands
heal. Job 28:11
He binds up the
Elihu purposely uses 12. Literally, "find
rivers
flowing
a word that can
have
and the
hidden things
come to
light.
either a violent or gentle meaning.
guilty"
13. Job does ill to
establish his understanding of justice by considering it as itself purely from within the human prospective. This, argues Elihu, is true for two reasons. True justice requires the notion of equality before the law.
it
reveals
But that equality only becomes visible when all men are seen as equally deriva tive from that which is beyond man. Men are equal because they are all equally the work of the hand of God, and God is equally above all. That also implies a mutual recognition of men as such.
from beyond.
the limitations of the human sphere
For Elihu, both the judge
Equality before
only if that equality has
and the standard
the law is compatible
a prepolitical
apply to all of judgment must come which
with structured political
foundation, but that
world
is
life to
closed
man.
14. Although there Elihu is trying to
direct quotations, it is
are no
himself to
address
what
Job
clear that
in these
verses
sees as the most serious of
his
charges:
Job 7:12
Am I the
Job 14:13
Who
sea or some monster that
can move
anger passes?
Set
You to hide
me a
me
fixed limit
in
You
the
set watch over me?
Pit
and conceal me till your
and remember me.
Interpretation
306
Then
Job 14: 16
longer
no
the watch
for my
would
You
keep
my every step,
track of
or
be
on
sin.
God precisely where Job had questioned. If divine justice were to model itself after human justice, as Job implies, it would leave itself open to justice. Its all the wrangling, loopholes, and ambiguities that mark human Elihu
praises
force
whole
in its unknown,
resides
and
hence
15. Human justice is inadequate to deal cannot reveal show
to
men
imply it
to be seen as sinful
16. The
word
I
be
human misdoing because it actions. It can at best
Oh my hopes, The
him in his
17. I believe that
by
"If He
disguise themselves
held to account,
as
injustice, I
or
indeed any
acknowledging this debt, dren. See note to 11:6. 20. Others translate "as "from-with-you."
acts
o'er;
face"
upon me, and
they
no
longer take
he
means
that the acts of
He may be implying that at of its force, but it is not clear.
part
as we
(Deut.
one can also
find
have been
become
seen
or
the
knowing
to be
within the political
can
case of the
do
its
own
expiation
Egyptian
chil
something like it. Literally, the word in such contexts as "What does the
"I
and
it
him"
of
my kingdom
(Deut. 18:10), but
are guiltless
own sense of the passage as a whole seems
Deuteronomy 18:10,
decide for himself.
it. The
we are still
appears
passages such as
in
from
individual
in the
will require
My
Elihu,
Human justice is
regime, in order to establish
Only
fit"
visible
"I
with the usage
"mortal"
have
you see
10:12)
longer."
no
unjust without
or
(2Sam 3:28).
"mortal"
in it
which, according to
political
you?"
ask of
22.
is
shall persist
It usually
means
21.
is
said.
of chance.
must neglect all prior claims.
by
the reader
given
hide His
are not and can never
horizon. Kingship,
better
him have
should
fundamentally flawed; a man may perversions of the fathers, those for
Lord"
that the weak as
he had
of much of what
is
('adam)
19. "If I have done
legitimacy,
clear
an act
sphere of
place.
unknown source of retribution
man
If
who will ever take note of them?
eyes that observed
note of
18.
Job
remind
strongest.
beyond the
that sees me takes no note of me; your eye
eye
Job 20:9
can
an order
am not.
Job 17:15
times the
the rule of the
more than
seen as
violating in that way can it become
Only
is intended to
The
Job 7:8
nothing
must
merely human concern. weak are heard.
Lord
with
the cosmic significance of their
that one or more other human beings object to the act, which would, of
course, ultimately
God
unquestionable character.
but in the
main
before
the
to go along
I have tried to
help
307
The Book of Job CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
1 Then Elihu to say all
'My
benefit
this
your
heavens have
you?
you
words,
is
how
How
and
I better
am
off
it,3
to it? What could it gain from your hand? yourself, and
9 Under arms:
none
11
who
birds
than the
is for
say 'How does 4 I will answer
above you
you
multiply
your
transgres
righteous, what would
8 Your
sons of man
fall
evils4
you add
like
upon men
('adam).5
scream to be saved from mighty the one who makes songs in 'Where is God maker, say my teaches us more than the beasts of the earth; and makes us
great oppression
10 but
the night; wiser
your righteousness
if
you were
be judgment?
5 Just look up into the it is. 6 If you
how high
and even
sions, how could you affect it? 7 Or if
think to
or when you
with you.
nebula,2
could you perturb
3
than if I had sinned'?
friends along
note of the
what you
God's?"
greater than
your
Take
and see.
sinned
2 "Is that
answered and said:
righteousness
they cry out; they
sky.'6
of the
12 There they cry out, but He gives no answer to the majestic pride of evil 13 Oh vanity; God will not listen, nor will the Almighty take note. 14
men.
Particularly before Him present
for Him
and
He does
Job, futility
have
since you
writhe7
you must
His anger, he
not exert
pours
said that you yourself take no note.
from his
foolishly
He
mouth.
[in
grows
Yet the
15 But
uncertainty].8
misunderstands.
heavy
since
for the as
for
has
no
16 And
with words and
is
case
comprehension."
Comments
1. Not found
2. The
as such.
notion of
"the
nebula"
is
somewhat complicated
for Elihu. See
note
to Job 36:28. "Him"
3. Others translate
doing
throughout, but there
seems
to me no reason for
so.
4. Literally,
[acts]"
"guilty
5. For Elihu the human
concerns.
is
The
dangerously lowing himself to
is wholly indifferent to the fate of man and to that Job felt into a realm larger than the human realm
cosmos pull
misdirected.
become
In
flirting
enmeshed
with
in
the
a world
world of
in
the
Jackal, Job is "justice"
which
the
word
al
is
a
mute sound which symbolizes nothing.
6. Job had
Job 10:3-4
said:
Does it
seem good to
for the toil Have You
You that You oppress, that You have
of your own eyes of
flesh?
hand, but '
contempt
shine upon the counsel of the
guilty
308
Interpretation
But he human nence
is
know
cannot
what
is. Those
oppression
beyond the
wonder
who
realm cannot marvel at the night songs of nature, or at man's preemi
among the
be found there. To
creatures to
man
it is
a
frightful
He
place.
crushed and can see nothing.
7. On the
irony
.
gance."
This is
to 39:1.
of this verse, see notes
8. "There, they cry out. matters not, beyond the human what
Job 34:36-37
For Elihu, to be attracted, for
.
he had in
mind when
Job's trials know
May
different from those transgression,
understanding is to he said:
sphere of
of
slaps us
no
the
limit, because his
face,
and
it
"arro
answers are no
He
men of wickedness.
in the
what reason
act with
continually
adds sin upon speaks against
God.
For him, the
beyond the
world
world of
human
is
concern
devoid
a world
of
the concept of justice. There
God
can
is nothing in terms of which man can speak so that listen. Man among the jackals is left in fear and total uncertainty.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
1 And Elihu you.
There is
from who
continued to speak:
still another word
2 "But
I
me and
will show
fetch my knowledge 4 Indeed, my words are not false. One will
my Maker rightous. knowledge is among you.
afar to show
has
bit for
wait a
to be said for God. 3 I
simple
5 God is mighty and shows no contempt mighty in strength of heart. 6 He life to the guilty but grants judgment to the poor 7 and turns not His eyes from the righteous. gives no
As for kings exalted.
about to ascend the
8 But if they
are
reminds them what gressions.
they they He
10 He
bound in fetters
they have done
seats them
forever,
and
they
are
cannot
hear, they
13 The impious
afflicts them.
and
trapped in cords of affliction, 9 He
and that
they
can prevail over
their trans
11 If they can hear and obey, their years in delight. 12 But if
unveils their ears to admonition.
will complete their
why.2
throne, He
'
14
days in prosperity
will perish
of
heart
They
by
and
the sword, and pass on without
put on anger and will not
died
when their soul
was
cry
yet
out
for
knowing help when
young, for it lived
whores.3
among 15 But the
He tears from their poverty and unveils their ears by force, lured they into a broad place, away from the edge of free of stress, and their table is laden with sumptuous fare. 17 You have fulfilled the judgment of the guilty and so judgment and justice
16
then
poor
are
have laid hold
of you.
ransom pull you aside.
narrowness4
18 Beware lest 19 Will
fury
your cries
turn you to
for help,
derision
even with
or a great
determination
of
The Book of Job strength, people
bring
from their
have
you
life in
order to
distress?5
21 Beware, do
places.
20 Do
not pant
by
309
night eager to raze
wickedness, for that is
not turn to
what
poverty.6
chosen rather than
22 Behold, God is exalted in His power. Who can guide like Him? 23 Who His ways? or say to Him, 'Thou hast done injustice?'
can oversee
24 Remember then to
exalt
His
25
works of which mortals sing.
('adam) has beheld Him. Mortals have looked upon Him from 26 Behold, God is exalted but we cannot know. The number
Every
man
afar.7
cannot
be
itself into His upon
mist
of
His
years
and the moisture refines
nebula8
and
trickles back down
mankind.9
29 Who canopy?
food in
His light
spreads
He
with them
abundance.
its
strike at
against
the expanse of the clouds, the roarings under His
can comprehend
30 He
sea, 31 for
it to
27 He draws up droplets of water, 28 that flows together into
unearthed.
out over
pronounces
32 He
it
and covers over
judgment
covers over the
lightning
33 But the roaring tells
mark
the roots of the
the nations, and provides
upon
in His hand
of
and commands
Him, amassing His
anger
injustice."10
Comments 1 Elihu began the
chapter
.
said
for
God,"
as
if
consequent to what
from
he
what
he had
by
saying, "There is
was about
said
before. He
afar"
and stresses the truth of what
however, he
reiterates
his
speaks of
he is
commitment to
"As for kings
about
and
be
thought
his knowledge
Before going into it,
to the cause of the poor.
indeed
and
additional
"fetching
about to say.
justice
What he then has to say is, indeed, new, must be understood properly:
to
still another word more
to say were a kind of
bit shocking, but it
a
to ascend the throne, He seats them
forever,
and
they
are
exalted."
Taken in
and
Divine Right verses that
the
by itself, Kings."
of
follow,
verse must
this
verse reads much
However
and no matter
much
how
like
what we would call
critical those qualifications
of man
beyond the
visible universe
is
the
only
proper
home for
realm of man can support the
the political sphere. In that sense, there can be no such
founded, 2.
Self-Evident Truths
and therefore
Monarchy
in the light
is limited
Even foreign tyrants
God.
turn out to
be,
be faced in itself.
For Elihu, the home
or prepolitical
"the
this statement may be qualified in the
who
not
by
intend
upon
which
of which
it
Nothing
human,
thing
as
that
can
be
in the
is to say,
Natural Right,
the political regime
is to be
questioned.
inalienable rights, but
no good
man.
by
divine
become tools in the
providence.
unseen
hands
of
Interpretation
310
2Kings 24:2
And
Syrians,
of the
Ammon,
of
the
3. Literally,
LORD
the
the
LORD,
but the
his
of
Moabites,
he
which
the text is
reference
bands
and
by
of
destroy it,
Judah to spake
Chaldees,
of the
his
is clearly to
pagan
the
children
the prophets.
temple whores.
to 6:23.
note
obscure.
affluence not mislead
bands
and
according to
servants
translates: "Though you are
Greenberg
be
the case of the wicked, the justice of the case will
obsessed with anger at
of the
ones,"
4. sar just Job's feelings. See
5. The meaning
bands
and
and sent them against
word of
"holy
him bands
sent against
you; let
Let
upheld.
not turn you aside.
bribery
much
efforts?"
Will
your
limitless
you, all your powerful
wealth avail
The Revised Standard translates: "But
you
full
are
the judgment
of
wicked; judgment and justice seize you. Beware lest wrath entice scoffing: and let not the greatness of the ransom turn you aside. Will avail
to
keep
from distress, guilty man, has
you
6. Job, like a has, in that sense, become
or all the strayed
an outlaw
force
as one of them.
order, but he will go
Adam
that there
realm of
among Once there, he
entered
fully
just in
a world
in
which
cry
human
will
find himself to
determined to find justice
of them of
there
He
society.
What tempted him
other outlaws.
is nothing
your
of your
beyond the
unheard, nothing there will remind him
can remain
cept of
He may have
find
will
into
strength
to follow them may be of little importance.
be
the
of
you
and
to be found there. His cries
justice. For Elihu,
is
no
no son of
foundation for the
con
justice.
7. Therefore, insofar
as the
human horizons
point
beyond themselves, they providence. It is
its laws, but to God and His guiding not a time for inquiry, but a time for song and exaltation. 8. The root of the word we have translated as point not
to nature and
"nebula"
away"
or
"to
pulverize or
Exod. 30:34f.
beat into
The LORD onychia,
said to
Moses: Take
sweet
each), and
make an
it into powder,
and put part of
holy;
as
by
the
and you shall
it before the
tent of meeting where I shall meet with you; most
wear
frankincense (an
incense blended
perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and some of
"to
spices, stacte, and
and galbanum, sweet spices with pure
equal part of
means
a powder":
it
shall
beat
covenant
be for
in the
you
holy.
or
2Sam. 22:43
I beat them into
a powder
them and stamped them
In that sense,
we
have already
seen
like the dust
down like the
of the
earth, I crushed
mire of the streets.
the root used in Job:
31 1
The Book of Job Job 14:19
The
have
waters
worn the stones
away
and
its torrents have
washed
away the dust of the land.
As
noun, it first
a
Isa. 40:15
the of
imagery dust
Behold,
nothing, since
pan
like
the nations are
like the dust
islands
gathers
the
on
if they
as
on
in their
smallness and
their
is beyond
feels
a
drop
out of a
bucket, and are behold, he lifts up
the [pans of a] balance:
fleck.
were a
it force from the fact
no one
particles
says:
considered
the
dustlike
the
refers
When Isaiah
manyness.
man's
that although the number of particles
capacity to count, together they mean they are weighed in along with his
cheated when
purchase.
Often it is
used of a
Prov. 3:20
By
temporary
his knowledge the depths
[nebulae] drop Sometimes it is in itself of
Prov. 8:28
.
until
when
established
other times
Ps. 89:37
it looks
It
shall
he
the
be
broken up,
are
enduring thing, but
a more
is broken up daily: and the clouds
down the dew.
was once a mass of separate
individual fragments
At
whole which
God
made
made
of
a
one can still see that the nebula
shapeless,
them stand
firm the
fountains
more
bits,
the
almost
firmly
[nebulae]
skies
liquidlike
cluster
together as a whole:
above,
when
he
deep,
lasting:
established
for
ever as
the moon, and as a
faithful
witness
in heaven.
9.
10.
hand
('adam) According to Elihu,
man
God solely towards the
of
He them
spreads
He
His light
pronounces
is directed
the visible universe beyond man good of man and
out over
judgment
it
his
the
concerns:
and covers over the roots of the
upon
by
the nations, and provides
sea, for
food in
with
abundance.
If Job is tempted into that world, however, he will be faced only by the the constant roaring. To man, God's labyrinthine complex of deli
nebula and
cately interwoven incoherent nebula. Throughout the or
hides from
ends will seem no more than a
passage
mankind
Elihu
speaks of
roaring
mass of
anger, an
the way in which God covers over
the frightful origins as
they
manifest
themselves
in the
312
Interpretation
"roots
of
strikes."
"the
and
Elihu's
of
thing
sea"
the
lightning that that Job, by his demand
notion
barrier that God has
through the
Job 33:17
He
from
Job, too,
Pit,
the
I
was not
('adam)
from
the man
and
had
at one time
23:17
man
to turn
pride them
over)
such
destroyed
it is
now
for oneself,
man and
his destruction:
His
seal upon
by
the
sword.
darkness only because He had
the
murk
from
concealed
me.
for Job, but for him the question,
a struggle
their
away from action and conceal (cover (gebher). He will keep his soul back
thoughts:
by
and with one's own
seen some
to question, threatens to break
his life from perishing
[covered over] its thick
Even
between
the ears of mortals and places
unveils
discipline,
placed
We have already
and the need to see
human eyes, keeps reasserting itself
at each
turn.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
1 "At this too my heart trembles and leaps from its place. 2 Listen, listen well to the in His voice and the groaning that comes up out of His mouth. light2 3 Straight down it comes under the whole of heaven. His goes out to the rage1
earth, 4
ends of the
His
majestic
marvels with
pride,4
then,
and
but
none
voice.3
a
roaring that hear His
is
7 The
downpour
a
whole of
down into its lair 9 place.6
scattering
of
accomplish all that
Job. Stand
love
by
clouds are
how
they may know
in for
God turns
down the a
all
to
ice,
clouds with
topsyturvy
lash,
so
He founds it
and
face
upon
His
kept in
His
He
and the
of
light
steers them to
this fruitful
orb.
land.7
14 Hear this, God. 15 Do you know
cloud when the radiation
balance,
from its
the wide waters are
moisture,
course
each
shelter and settles
appears?8
the wonders of simple
16 Do
you
knowledge? 17
clothing keeps you warm when the land has respite from the 18 Can you beat the nebula into a great expanse, firm as a
your
wind?9
19 Tell
that
at attention and contemplate the wonders of
know how the
mirror cast
so
goes
commanded them upon the
the
charge upon
southern
of
its bolt. 12 On
He has or
sealed up beast that
a
tempest comes out of its chamber, cold
weighs
how God lays
or even
He has
when the
out
down,'
might.
10 The breath
ning-cloud spews
by
His
mankind5
like bronze. 11 He
13 Whether
the voice of
5 God thunders
ground,'
His works, 8 like
mortal as one of
cast
with
His voice, working great things, though we can never know them. says 'fall to the and to the rain 'pour and
6 For to the Snow He the rain
He thunders
voice can pursue.
like us
molten metal?
then,
what shall
we
say to Him? We
cannot
lay
out our case
The Book of Job because Can
of the
darkness. 20 Does anything get through he is about to be swallowed
a man speak when
21 Now,
not a
nebula, not till comes
a
a
abundant
in
in
FEAR15
light though it
spirit shall make them
find Him. He is
judgment; giving
ever
22 Out
rests
bright in the
blinding
shine
pure."
A frightful majesty
splendor.
mighty
the
sees
passing
golden
to Him when I speak?
up?10
man
none will
313
the north there
of
God. 23 The Al
upon
multiplying in might and in right12, 24 Thus hold
neither wrack nor
reason.13
mortals14
the one whom even the wise of heart have never
seen."
Comments 1. A
that Job has seen in
passion
Job 3:17
There the guilty
is
I
Job 9:6
Who
Job 12:6
Oh,
can cause the earth to reel
there
is
Man
God,
"lightning,"
word
he
uses
Elihu's
of
what
is the
place till
woman, short-lived
to do at this
came."
rage
its
pillars quake!
security for in their hand.
of robbers and
God Himself has
and, clearly enough, that is
placed and
of rage.
Most translate
point.
what
full
Elihu
means.
by
the
However,
the
everyday word for light, and that is indeed the way This way of speech gives one a much better sense of for the dramatic and his sense that the fearful lies close behind simple
first hits the
feeling
which
('adam) is born
from its
in the tents
peace enough
2. It is very hard to know word
cast off their rage and there rest those whose power
ease, I was not quiet, I had no rest, but
was not at
those who enrage
the word
earth, and in man:
spent.
Job 3:26
Job 14:1
God, in
ear.
the mundane. What can be more peaceful,
airy nothing than light, lion. roaring 3. With his warning words, "Listen, listen well to the Elihu is trying to give Job some picture in sound of what he will see if he wanders off into the and yet
in
it
a moment
can
become
more of an
a
rage,"
land
of
the Jackal
eyes and
human
4. Here
and should cross over
again we
superhuman,
Job 8:11
beyond the
To him, the divine
ears.
have
a
world of man with
will appear as
human
the bestial.
term wholly indifferent to good or
bad, human,
or subhuman:
Can
papyrus grow
[show its
majestic
pride]
where there
is
no
marsh?
feel the
Job 10:16
You
Job 35:12
There they cry out, but He
must
majestic pride of a
lion in
hunting
me?
gives no answer to the majestic pride of
evil men.
Job 38:11 Job 40:10
5.
"man"
Here
your
Come,
('adam)
[majestically]
deck
yourself out
proud waves must come
in
majestic pride and
to rest.
dignity.
314
of
Interpretation
6. Elihu likens the way in which man has been sealed up within the human understanding to a beast settled down in its den for the long from
shelter
7. The
in
fruitful orb, if he indifferent to its
which
what
edge
is among
front
of which
cated.
4
verse
if
only
a cold
unknown
topsyturvy
course
this
totally
we
hand
rely
within
on most
in
the human
to man, why, then, should he expect to understand
Chapter 36, Elihu had said, "One This turns
lay
can
He feels himself
He has
out
to be
out
his case,
of
who
has
simple
far from the truth. There is
certain that
it
will
to be swallowed up
a man about
no
way the hands of
by
things, the things
which are most at
sphere?
of
Job
itself
and orders
commands
to man a
of wondrous events.
even the simplest
you."
nebular world. outside of
would seem
hence the things
is beyond that
10. In
His
accomplishes
is full
world
and
in fact
are
man's
it may be in itself, is only
end.
means that
daily lives,
sphere,
God
face it,
to
were
8. For Elihu, the our
is
cave
winter
chaos to man.
ways
9. Elihu
is inhospitable. The
and nature
a world which, no matter what
frightful
and
blows
the cold wind
when
sphere
knowing
whether
be heard
by
a
no court
in
and adjudi
totally indifferent is directed from
that world
all-knowing, all-caring God
an
knowl
who
listens to
the prayers and needs of man or not. "Does anything get through to Him when I speak?"
For him, however, there is
God
loving can
face
a
On that
blinding 12. 13.
day
day
one
man will see that
an
all-
nebula which no man
a spirit will pass
from the
beginning
light shining bright in the nebula, though
lo'
This is
ya'aneh.
in English
answer,"
phrase, "And X one verse
out of the
On the torture."
there
by
to purify the
had
always
been
not one a man could see.
same word
that has occurred so often in that stock
said."
away,
begin
will
In
with the
fact,
the very next chapter, which is
words, "And the Lord answered Job
said."
and
hand, it
other a
play on words which I was not able to On the one hand the verb ('nh) means
a complicated
a single word.
answered and
Tempest
It is
by
is the
and
only
stormy
belief in
"judgment"
reproduce
"to
a steadfast
or consider.
11. Elihu's final belief is that nebula.
to
no alternative
other than the senseless roar of the
also means
particularly
haunting
"to
pun.
afflict"
or
In the
"to
torment"
case of a pun,
or even
"to
there is usually a
primary meaning, the one that is intended to hit the reader first. Then there is a kind of double take when he sees, "Yes, but it could also mean. The first meaning must always come before the second, sometimes by five years, but .
.
usually the time can only be measured in milliseconds. An essential part of the humor in the pun is the unspoken agreement between the punner and the punnee as
to which
this case, there
is
is
the
no
first meaning
millisecond;
and which
one cannot
meaning has the punch; but in is the first. The sudden
tell which
The Book of Job
that a horizon has been shared where least expected is missing, and
recognition
the
humor falls flat. The pun,
which was not a
and
fort than to feel that there is chaos, but for
Job,
there
tal."
The
means
reader
because in the have translated Job 4:12-12
.
.
.
We have
The
Job 4:17
rather close to the
English
will appear
or,
"mor
word
when used of a wound or a
disease,
the root used in that sense already:
seen
arrow was
mortal, though I was without transgression.
may find the complete list helpful. He must be a bit careful, it cannot be distinguished from the plural of the word we
plural
"man"
(gebher).
as
A
word stole upon me
in
gropes
Job 5:17-18
no answer.
"mortal"
"sick,"
or
"incurable."
Job 34:6
The
"weak,"
have
I have translated
word
Etymologically, it is, in fact,
root means
mute raucousness of
no greater torment than to
14. This is the last time that the in the text.
God behind the
loving
a
be
can
splendidly captures the relationship be Job. For Elihu there can be no greater com so
pun,
them, Elihu
tween the two of
it
-315
but my
a night vision when
only a trace, as sleep falls upon mortals. pure than his maker? ear caught
one
deep
(gebher) more Indeed, happy is the mortal whom God disciplines, that has no contempt for the bonds of the Almighty; for He causes pain, but He or a man
...
binds up, He wounds, but His hands heal. Job 7:1
Does
not a mortal
Job 7:17
What is
Job 9:1-2
Then Job
Job 10:4
Can You
Job 10:5
Can time
answered and
by
So, You have
Job 25:4
you
What is
How
And
apparent
here
to serve
on earth and
servant?
magnify him? I know, but then
all that
what
God?"
to
time means to man?
what
deceive Him
trashed all mortal
a mortal that
should consider
Do
your years
he
born
deceive
a mortal?
be
clean or one
born
of woman
himself just before God
or what can
of woman?
now what of
the
should
as you can
hope.
himself just?
can a mortal think
('adam), Job 28:4
You
think you can
cleanse anyone
Job 25:6
"Yes,
said,
justice
to
mean
Do
he
duty
hired
as our years?
Job 14:19
that
of a
see as mortals see?
Job 13:9 Job 15:14
a term of
a mortal that thou shouldst
can make a mortal's
pass
have
his days like the days
are not
these mortals, the maggots or the son of
man
worm.
Abandoned
by
every
passer
by, destitute
of all
humanity, they
wander.
Job 28:13 Job 32:8 Job 33:12
No
mortal
knows its
value.
But surely there is a spirit in mortals, that gives him understanding. I
will answer
you,
for God is
greater
a
breath
than
any
of the
Almighty
mortal.
316*
Interpretation It may be in a dream, or in a vision of the night, when heavy sleep falls upon mortals as they slumber in their beds. He unveils the ears of mortals and places His seal upon their
Job 33:15
Job 33:16
discipline, Job 33:26
Job 33:27
('adam) away from
to turn man
Let him but see
His face
his
sense of
supplicate unto
with shouts of
have
"God
who
Job
be
accepted and
to
mortal man
right,
say, "I have
and
my
settled."
been
not
of mortals and
with what was
has thrown
aside all
claims
my
me"
made against
and
transgression."
I
shall
shall return
squarely in front
stand
false the judgment though
action and conceal
righteousness.
Let him only
Job 34:4-8
he
and
joy, for He
sinned; I have dealt perversely accounts
God
was without
What
for
"The
man
justice,''
"I declare
arrow was
(gebher) is
mortal,
there like
drinks up mockery as if it were water, joins company with deal in wickedness and walks with mortal men of evil?
who
those who
And so,
Job 34:10
Job 34:34-35
Men
of
heart, hear
you men of
Almighty
and the
heart,
say "Job has
from and
me; far be God
from injustice
evil.
every
(gebher) who listen to knowledge, and his words lack
me will
wise man
spoken without
insight."
Job 34:36
Job's
May
know
trials
different from those
of
Job 36:24
Remember then to
Job 36:25
Mortals have looked
Job 37:7-9
The
exalt
and settles
His
upon
whole of mankind
each mortal as one of
limit, because his
no
answers are no
the men of wickedness. works of which mortals sing.
Him from
He has
His works, like
down into its lair
afar.
up so that they may know beast that goes in for shelter
sealed a
its
when the tempest comes out of
chamber, cold from
Job 37:24
Thus
mortals
heart have
15. In
a
its scattering place. hold in FEAR the one
whom even the wise of
never seen.
like manner, this is the last time that the
"FEAR"
word
will appear
in the text.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
1 And the
LORD1
answered
one that makes counsel your
loins like
4 Where
a man
dark
by
Job
(gebher): I
were you when
out of
words that
the
Tempest
have
will question
no
and said:
meaning?2
you, and you
3
2 "Who is this Come,3
must
let
gird
me
up know.
I laid the foundations
of the earth? Speak up, if you know! 5 Who fixed its measurements, if you have any understanding? Who stretched a measuring line round it 6 and into what were its pylons fixed? Who set the cornerstone 7 as the morning stars sang together, and the sons of GOD joy?5 all shouted for 8 Who closed up the sea behind the double door when first
it
burst6
out of the womb
9
when
I
clothed
it in
a cloud and swaddled
it in
mist,7
317
The Book of Job 10
my law
imposing
said, 'To this
up the bars and the double doors: 11 and but no farther. Here your proud waves must may come,
upon
point you
it,
and put
rest.'
come
to
12 Have
15 But the light is
garment.
the morning,
you yet commanded
place, 13 to grab hold of the 14 All is as transformed as
corners of clay9
the earth and
by
stamped
withheld
taught the dawn to know its
or
a
and
from the wicked,
wicked?8
the
winnow out
seal,10
fixed"
dye in
as
and the uplifted arm
a
is
broken.12
16 Have down
to you, or
have
you seen
for
walk14
a
them
unveiled
the gates of the Shadow of Death16? 18 Have
the expanse of the earth? If you know
you pondered
or gone
death15
the cranny in the deep? 17 Have the gates of
by
selves
seas,13
the source of the
you ever come upon
things, declare
these
all
them!
19 Which is the
road to
dwelling
the
light?
of
is the
and which
place of
home?17 darkness, 20 that you may take it to its borders and know the way to its 21 You know, for even then, you were born, and the number of your days is great.18
22 Have 23
which
and of
24
in
what paths
25 Who
for the or
I have laid
aside
the canals
cleaved
thunder,20
the
voice of
devastation
and the
28 Does the
has
rain
have
a
children?
flooding
of
battle
life21
you
33 Do
lead
out
of
where no man
make a surfeit of
of the
with a
the
deep
chain, or
in its time heaven,26
is,
the
bloom?22
of
birth to the frost
face
and the
know the laws
you
land
begets the drops
Mazzaroth25
the
a
budding field
and who
stone,
in
in it, 27 to
and who gave
the
east wind cast about
torrent and made a pathway
might rain
bind the Pleiades together
you
Orion? 32 Can
it
and make a
father?
as
for the
so that
human
no
does ice emerge,
belly
31 Did
26
devastated,
Water draws itself up, tight
her
for the days
a time of narrowness and
is light dispersed? How is the
a wilderness that
whose
for
hail
of
war?19
By
earth?
the storehouses of snow, or seen the vaults
you come upon
dew? 29 From
of
heaven?23
clutches untie
or guide
to
30
itself.24
the reins of
the Bear
and can you
with
impose its
earth?27
authority on the 34 Can you raise water? J'
35 If
your voice
you send out the
to the clouds and
lightning,
it
will
go?
be
covered
in
a torrent of
Will it say to you, 'Here
am
?28
36 Who outward can
tip
placed
form?29
the
wisdom
37 And
bottles
who
of the
at
is
the secret core and gave wise enough
sky, 38 to
liquify
intelligibility
to the
to tell the tale of the nebula? Who
the dust and cast
it into
congealed
clods?
39 Can its
cubs
40
hunt up prey for the lioness, and bring to fulfillment the life in they crouch in their dens or lie in ambush in their lairs? 41 Who
you
as
prepares a catch
for the
wanders about without
raven when
food?"30
his young cry
out to
God for help,
and
he
318
Interpretation
Comments 1. This is the first time the
has been
word
Chapter 2.
used since
2. Verse 2 is clearly intended as a rhetorical question, and yet, unlike most questions, the answer is by no means obvious. Is the intended answer
rhetorical "Job,"
is it "Elihu"? Perhaps
or
a position
to ask the question.
very moving fact that the It is roughly equivalent to the English word command into a plea or a request, or, as in our case, an invita
3. This is my Lord
in
we are not yet
all-too-poor attempt to capture the
"please"
na'
the word
uses
and converts a
.
it is
tion. Needless to say
Lord
a word the
uses
very rarely,
instance
and each
requires our close attention.
4. In
to the
contradistinction
word which the
Tempest
word
discussed in the
for man,
uses
Job 37:24, the
note to
have translated
and which we
as man
strong."
I was quite tempted to meaning "to be have been closer than simply using the word ('adam). My only reason for not doing so is that there is another, some although that modified, form of the word which does in fact mean
(gebher), translate
comes
it
from
a root
"hero,"
as
which would
"man"
"hero,"
what
form is The
in the Book
never used
to fulfill the
Job
answered and said
in
that night
and now
What need
he is
being
more can
for Job to
would
be
asked
be
it
which
"May
the
'A
was said
yet
If Elihu
help
of some
Job with
my birth be lost (GEBHER) has been of
and with
it
conceived."
to gird his loins and become that man.
said?
nearly right, there
were not
his loins; and yet, if Elihu in it either.
Again, it may be
first words, urging him
own
day
man
gird
no point
Job 3:3
his
inherent in his birth:
promise
Job 3:3
Job.
of
to be reminding Job of
voice seems
night
simply right,
would
in
"May
which
it
the
be
no
perhaps there
to the reader to see the complete
answered and said
it that
were
list:
of my birth be lost and 'A MAN (GEBHER) has been
day
was said
conceived."
Job 3:20,23
Why does
He
life to the bitter
been lost
and whom
Job 10:5
Can time
Job 14:10
But
Job 14:14
If
Job 16:21
Will
('adam) Job 22:2
"Can can
Job 33:16-18
be
He
...
You
no one argue
for
will
whose
or
way has
about.
he
a man
perishes and
come
is
back to life
(gebher) before God
no more. again? as a man
friend?"
should
do for
a man
(gebher) be
a
has consumed,
(gebher)
time means to man?
what
(gebher) dies, he
(gebher) dies,
of use to a
whom toil
or to a man
God has hedged
mean to
when a man
a man
light to those
give
of soul?
of
any
use to
his God
as a prudent man
friend?
unveils the ears of mortals and places
His
seal upon their
The Book of Job discipline, from the Job 33:29-30
('adam) away from
to turn man
(gebher)
man
action and conceal pride
his life from perishing
and
.
-319
by
the sword.
Yes, God will do all these things two or three times for a man (gebher), to bring his soul back from the Muck to be made bright
by Job 34:7-8
light
the
What if it
life.
of
(gebher) is
man
like Job
there
drinks up mockery
who
as
water, joins company with those who deal in wickedness
were
and walks with men of evil?
Job 34:9
For he has said, 'It is
Job 34:34
Men
of
heart,
and
say 'Job has
will
(gebher)
of no use to a man
he be in
that
favor.'
GOD's
(gebhef) who listen to me knowledge, and his words lack
wise man
every
spoken without
insight.'
Job 38:3
Come, you,
Job 40:7
Come,
5. The LORD begins
same
They
"lines,"
gird
that measurement, and word
is
let
Dan. 7:2
hence
Son
Ezek. 32:2
out of
heaven
of
say are
like
its
a man
(gebher). I
will question
know.
me
bevy
of
he
and
can
in terms
only
in my
by
night,
stirring up [bursting]
raise a
man,
vision
a monster
burst to his
Yet
Ps. 22:9
thou art
safe upon
my
Writhe
Mic. 4:10
in
wonder.
lamentation
(TAN)
leams
in them
and of
over
and
behold,
the four
sea."
the great
Pharaoh
king
of
Egypt,
and
lion among the nations, but you in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers,
feet,
and
foul their
rivers."
confident that the
Jordan
mouth.
he
who
mother's
and
At the
"pylons,"
consider yourself a
Though the river rage, he is unalarmed, will
stand
"foundations,"
such as
seas and the monsters
raging
trouble the waters with your
Job 40:23
one right after the
questions,
mother's womb.
saw
were
him: "You
to
will question
number was used.
Daniel said, "I winds of
(gebher). I
that Job can very well understand. He also
often used of the
it bursts forth
loins like
your
a man
know.
me
beyond Job,
"cornerstones"
a child as
let
questions are couched
and
6. This
up
loins like
your
with a whole
infinitely
are
time, the
up
and you must
you,
other.
gird
and you must
burst
me
from the womb; thou didst
keep
me
breasts.
burst, O daughter
of
Zion, like
a woman
in travail; for
forth from the city and dwell in the open country; to Babylon. There you shall be rescued, there the LORD
now you shall go you shall go
will redeem you
Here the
beginning
or as a primordial waters of and
7. As
of all things
is
of your enemies
not presented as
a
"Let it
be"
or as a
"making."
"creation"
birth
from the hand
letting
The passage, in mixing the waters of birth with the chaos, presents God more as a midwife, controlling the
things come forth in
compared
number and order.
to verses 4 through
7,
these verses, with words
like
"burst,"
320
Interpretation
"womb,"
"swaddle,"
"cloth,"
those things which are older than the arts. This
from the
ment
be
by
his arts,
masculine workman and
It is
fixing
into something
of pylons
a movement
is in fact
movement
which cause
the application of measurement to a world
forceful
from the
seem to mark a movement
and
outside of
arts to
a move
things to come to
itself,
by
and
the
more solid than themselves.
to another and older kind of coming to
be,
that
brings forth
measurelessly from within itself. Thus far, the movement seems tentative and ambiguous. The Voice presents itself as imposing its law upon the sea, and yet "clothing"
it
"swaddling."
finding
as
a
itself to
also shows
It does
feminine
possess the more
not speak of
a proper place
itself
and of
virtues of
sea,"
"trampling
as
on
but
the tier of the
majesty."
for its "proud
Another way of looking at the problem is to consider the distinction between creating God and a nurturing God. Fundamental to this question is Aristotle's "Of the things that are,
statement:
by
some are
the foremost of which is art. Aristotle implies that the
nature
essentially
by
that are made
means
manmade, but have
not
Here, too, we meet
is
within
be drawn from the things
no conclusion to
hence rely
upon
man, concerning the things that are
themselves their own source of motion and rest.
the artisan God has within Himself the "to
shapes and molds
God
that there
man and
be"
according to His plan, while the more
in the Book
is in the thing itself. 8. Winnowing is a
of
by other discovery of
nature, and some are
causes,"
Job
allows
strange and
for the
interesting
of
the object. He
feminine, nurturing
emergence of the
"to
be,"
which
There is the wheat,
process.
which
because it is good, and there is the chaff, which one does not want because it is not good; but there they lie all mixed up together. One's first one wants
inclination
be to
the chaff, chaff by chaff. Winnowing, though, very different process and calls for another kind of spirit. In winnowing, the whole is tossed lightly in a blanket. The wind carries off the chaff, or most of it,
is
would
pick out
a
and the
wheat, because it is more stable and weighty, tumbles safely back into
blanket. The farmer
the
rejoices with
his care, a bit of chaff may have may have fallen to the ground. all
9. If
one
looks
at the
way the
it is
beginning
into
which we come and go.
"matter,"
or
to
be
used quite
something like
Job 4:19
what of
but dust? He Job 10:9
his flour though he knows that in
gotten
through,
for clay,
author uses the word
generally
as the
dead
In that sense, it takes what
and a grain or
Elihu
those who
means
dwell in
will crush them
Remember that You
like
by a
on
the
house
spite of
two of
wheat
one can see that
medium out of which and
something
of what we call
"nebula."
of
clay,
whose
foundation is
a moth.
made me as
clay
and that
You
will return me to
dust. Job 13:12
Your clay.
aphorisms are proverbs of ash, your
bulwarks, bulwarks
of
The Book of Job Job 27:16
If he were
should pile
like dust,
silver
It throws
Job 33:6
Here I am, just
imagery
into the
me
from
was nipped
of
mire and
own
clay
Woe to him
we are all
he
and
potter
to do.
O house
thou art our the
vessel
hand, Jer. 18:6
in the
object made of
his Maker,
work of
he
should
be
by
aware.
of
Israel,
I
can
Father; we thy hand.
do
not
is
hotam
has
in itself,
the
are you
the clay, and thou art our
are
meant
of
his
has done?
so are you
is here translated
by
says
in my
the English
of which
the
reader
up."
uncleanness or
potter
hand,
interesting history,
"to stop
his
this
potter's
body
for is
a
discharge:
stopped
his
whether
from discharge, it
feeling
of permanence and
something safely
out of
safety, either as a
thing
the way.
In the dark he tunnels his way into houses which are him by day, since he does not know the light.
Job 24:16
a seal or
in him.
acquires a
or as
bearing
an earthen vessel with
with you as
which
a most
his discharge,
runs with
uncleanness
From there it safe
word
seal,"
a
Originally, it
body
clay
making of clay was spoiled in the potter's it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the
And this is the law
Lev. 15:3
Bible,
the
was
reworked
Hebrew
single
"stamped
of
handles?"
LORD. Behold, like the clay in the hand, O house of Israel.
10. The
books
fashions it, "What
who
the
phrase
other
is constantly likened to the clay
man
who strives with
Yet, O LORD, And the
and ashes.
man, like the pot, but unlike the clay, has his
a
Does the clay say to him making"? or "Your work has no
potter;
I become like dust
often appears
potter!
Jer. 18:4
if it
as
be."
shape, his own "to
Isa. 64:8
his clothing
clay.
The implication is that
Isa. 45:9
out
standing in for God, though I too
as you wished,
especially in Isaiah and Jeremiah, in them itself, whereas in this speech he is like the signet.
lay
and
clay,
Job 30:19
While the
up
321
-
sealed
up tight
against
Job 14:17
My
transgression would
plaster over
Then, in its
king
upon
nominal
my
be
sealed
up in
a pouch and
You
would
perversions.
form, it
comes
to be
used as a signet or seal placed
by
his letter.
1 Kings 21:8
So
she wrote
seal, and she with
letters in Ahab's
sent
the
Naboth in his
name and sealed
letters to the
city.
elders and
them
with
the nobles who
his dwelt
a
322
Interpretation
In that sense, it that the object
is
it is
what
Esther 8:8
thing's character, and becomes a kind of guarantee
marks a
And
you
may
the
king,
name of
in the
and will continue to
what
it has become.
write as you please with regard
and seal
it
Jews, in
to the
ring; for
the king's
with
and sealed with the
king
the
name of
be
king's
the
an edict written
ring
be
cannot
revoked.
We have already
seen the word
Job 33:16-18
He
the ears of mortals
unveils
discipline, from the
going in that direction:
man
One is tb\
Hebrew
are two
or that which
"to
eventually became
word
of the two
is impressed
other
hand,
The
wax
suggestion
be
used
from the
root
ring,
its form. This
second
postbiblical word
tebha',
It is
interesting
which emphasizes
outside.
a signet
The
the
to note that
fact that the
author of
Job,
on the
is that for Greek
our
author, the
word
hotam is
beginning
to acquire
"nature."
word physis or
author chooses a very forceful word. In biblical Hebrew the only in the reflexive mood. Even at its weakest, it means "to firm," self or "to stand in the sense of being fully present. It can
used to mean
one's actions.
"to take
A full list
stand,"
in the
a
of
sense of
the other occurrences
taking full responsibility
in the Book
of
Job
should
help:
Job 1 :6
One
Job 2:1
One
Job 33:5
Lay
Job 41:10
No
day day
There is
also an
the
Sons
of
GOD
came to present
themselves
the
Sons
of
GOD
came to present
themselves
your case out
one
is
would stand
help.
"nature."
for
Again the
.
is
of
for the
ring."
from the Biblical word
to give the seal
the taking-off place
"signet
chooses the one which emphasizes the guaranteed character of the
present one's
be
into the
upon the object
the character of the
11
or
itself.
object
root
"seal"
word
becomes the
words, the tradition chose the root
mark
for
t_ebha'th
Hence
to translate the Greek word physis, or
used
also
the sword.
for the English
words
dip."
"dipped"
is
by
the other is tabba 'ath. It comes
hotam;
our word
which means
their
seal upon
('adam) away from action and conceal pride (gebher). He will keep his soul back from the pit and
his life from perishing
There
His
and places
to turn man
so
before
brutal
before
interesting
me and
as to rouse
take your stand.
him
up.
Now,
who
is that
one who
me?
series of uses
in Exodus
which
may be
of some
The Book of Job Exod. 9: 1 3
323
Then the LORD
said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and before Pharaoh, and say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, the God the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may serve And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the
stand
'
"
me."
of
Exod. 14:13
salvation of the
Egyptians
LORD,
which
he
today, Then Moses brought the people
Exod. 19:17
they Exod. 34:5
foot
took their stand at the
In the
The It
it
today; for the
and
him there,
has been dyed red,
and
has truly become a the object in front of me as
then the garment
to think
of me
God;
meet
cloud and stood with
as much a part of
be wrong
camp to
LORD.
a white garment
fixed,
well
the
mountain.
the white garment as the
of
red garment.
or
has transformed the clay into
or character
mark,
a
pot, and a
is.
chaff of our
because the
former
example can
character of the chaff
is this difference in their fact that they
the
is
red color
would
you
way, the clay cannot be considered to be the truth behind the
same
now
The
has been
or
behind the
The seal,
pot. pot
firm
else.
lying
truth
be that if
argument seems to
red garment.
anything
out of
the
of
And the LORD descended in the
the dye stands
for
you shall never see
and proclaimed the name of the
12. The
will work
again."
whom you see
are
be
separated
is different from
from the
wheat
own characters that causes the separation
both tossed
the same
with
precisely
the character of the wheat. It
force
and
blown
in
by
spite of
the same
wind.
The
argument as a whole
man, the realm
may
not
being
be
of
the
reducible
Jackal,
as
it is,
as a
reply to Elihu. The world beyond in itself and by the human eye,
considered
to the nebulae. The beings in
hence their
and
is intended
own strivings and ambitions
it may each have their apart from any human
own con
may be open to them. 13. Job had once said:
cern, yet
man
Job 7:12
He is
now
Am I the
being
character of
reflexive
form
immediately
catch
used
sea.
and
2.1
of
it
He has
course, be
"Oh,"
inviting "going
not come
for
for the
used with great
said the
character of
a sense of aimless
to describe God
senses that
that You set watch over me?
the rather strange concatenation of the
and so carries with
Eve. It can,
Job 1:7
face that
the object and the relaxed,
joy. When it is
and
to
asked
14. I have tried to
sea or some monster
the
verb.
freedom
went
intended
sake of
in the Garden,
checking up
on
one
Adam
irony.
Satan to THE LORD "wandering go for a
down there to
It is in the
and
walk"
a
walk."
just
foreboding
around
Earth,
324
Interpretation
Job 18:7-8
His
'Clouds
if the Voice
as
world
were
beyond the
Be
He
as
nothing
strolls
forbid
to seduce Job into that frightful and
trying
been
always
man:
they loathed any kind
I
what
from those
suffer
up from the gates of death, food, and they drew near to the
liftest
who
by
shunned
O LORD! Behold
gracious to me,
hate me, O thou Ps. 107:18
can see
world of man.
15. Those that have Ps. 9:13
He
and
lead him into
will
the trap.
heaven.'
the circuit of
round
It is
Him
obscure
feet
own
net, and he will walk himself right into
a
Job 22:14
den
up, for his
trip him
plans will
who
me
of
gates of
death.
16. The Shadow
of
the tradition has connected it with "the Place of
Death;
Jackal."
the
Our heart has
Ps. 44: 1 8
not
turned
way, that thou shouldst the
covered us with
It has been in the horrid haven had
of
air now
Shadow
for
Job 3:1-8
day
of
"May
day
day
with
his
opened
the
was said
be
warms the counted months.
joy lay
day
a
of
in it. Those
and
first
saw
it
kind
as a
of
his first
words.
his day. Job
answered and
with
it that
darkness.
not seek
night
days
the
who
May
upon
dwell
above
murk consume
of the year or enter night
on
high
it; but let darkness
a cloud
the
God from
become hard
despise the sea, will curse it.
it.
May
and the
May
that
out of
which
that night that
into the
it
Shadow
it
number of
not
be
its
and sterile with no sound of
and those who are
determined to
Leviathan
Job is invited to
birth
came out of
the
had been
its
jackals,
my birth be lost in oblivion and 'A MAN (GEBHER) has been
among Thus shall that
open
much about
by
departed from thy
Death.
time now. Job
day terrify it. Let the
When he enters, that
Death
our steps
the place of
mouth and spurned
any brightness radiate Death redeem it, and may
shall
in
of
nor
who
have
us
conceiv
it
which
that
now
of
long
a
his birth
Then, Job said
And
nor
things unwanted, the dark and dangerous place to which Job
consigned the
in
back,
have broken
and
and
drop in for a visit. day will be there waiting for him,
conception,
Tempest, his
conceived so
the
fear
of
gates.
main goal will
long
death
see, the remainder of
and as we
and
know from the first be to become that
will
learn
words that
man
(gebher)
ago.
are central to the theme of the
Job's
in it he
education
is nothing
book,
and, as
more than a stroll
we
down
325
The Book of Job
Perhaps nothing of what is can be so transformed or disfigured and contorted as the face of death as it steps through the curtain drawn between the world of man and The
the world of nature.
is the truth behind the
either
17. Job of
commonplace
learn to
must
darkness. The
Elihu had one who
suggested.
knows
The
beyond the borders
will wander and must
it is
not clear that
is the
and which
mask?
into
the light and
of
the dark cannot be kept out
verse to
by hiding
be gently
in
the place
cave, as
a
home
escorted
be intended sarcastically, but that
may be reminding Job
voice
and
by
the way.
18. Some take this case.
They
Which is the face
other.
peer
monsters of
becomes the terrifying,
of some
deep-seated
be the
need not
kinship
he has
with
an antique whole.
19. In their
own
home,
the monsters
have
a role
to play.
than I have been cleverly "cast in the English translation. The three verbs,
20. This
is
passage
able
crafted
much more
"dispersed,"
capture
"cleaved,"
and
very
gentle
all mean the same
word,
a violent word.
is
and then there
Similarly,
torrent, and, finally, for the voice of the
thing, "to divide into parts"; but the first is a a clear progression to the last, which is quite
is the
there
we are at a
to
about
motion
loss to know
from light to
what
wind
flooding
to
it takes to "make
a
pathway
thunder."
showing him the forces that were needed to bring the inanimate world into being. They are only a part of the forces which he has "laid aside for a time of narrowness and for the days of battle and of God begins Job's
education
by
war."
In this
21.
man
account more seems
to be required than a "let there
.
not understand: a
budding field
which
man, but for all that it may be the
of
beautiful to Job.
23. Again, are
.
('adam)
22. This is the thing that Elihu could is for its own sake and not for the sake more
be.
beginning
as we caught our
first
to play an equal role
which comes out of the
Tempest is
in
glimpse
verse
8,
in the foundation unique
male and
of all
female
origins
things. This stance
to the Book of Job. In rhetoric and
imagery, the closest book in the Bible to the Book of Job is the Book of Psalms; and yet, even there, if one considers the complete list of references to bellies and wombs in it, one sees that, in contradistinction to the Book of Job, the female
is
always somewhat subordinate:
from
Ps. 17:14
portion
mortals
hand, O LORD
world.
May
their
from
mortals whose
bellies be filled
with what
stored
mother's
my Ps. 22:10
your
you up for them; may their children have more than enough; may they leave something over to their little ones. Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe
have
Ps. 22:9
by
in life is in this
you
breast.
from my birth, have been my God.
On
you
I
on
was cast
and since
my
mother
bore
me
326
Interpretation
Ps. 31:9
Be
gracious to me,
O LORD, for I
am
in distress; my
away from grief, my soul and body also. The wicked go astray from the womb; they speaking lies.
Ps. 58:3
Ps. 71:6
err
eye wastes
from their birth,
Upon you I have leaned from my birth; it was you who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you. Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead
Ps. 110:3
forces
your
like dew, Ps. 127:3
Sons
on
holy
the
mountains.
From the
womb of
the morning,
your youth will come to you.
indeed
are
a
heritage from the LORD, the fruit
of the womb a
reward.
Ps. 139:13
For it
in my
24. The double Its
autonomy.
25. The
name of one of
26. This
you
knit
me
together
use of
the reflexive even gives the water a certain amount of
is something it does to itself. meaning of this word is not known, but it
reaction
exact
the
have the
two
to be the
only occurs in one other passage in the Bible force that it acquires in this one:
and
does
same
Considerest
Jer. 33:24f.
seems
constellations.
expression
not seem to
formed my inward parts;
was you who
mother's womb.
families
thou not what this people
have spoken, saying, The
the LORD hath chosen, he hath
which
even cast
them
they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them. Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the LAWS OF HEAVEN off?
and
thus
earth; Then
will
servant, so that I seed of
I
cast
will not
Abraham, Isaac,
return, and have mercy
27. Men their
and
on
touchability it
each
night
while
were awesome. or change
Yet God's
its
It
all
his
seed to
and
be
will cause
David my
rulers over the
their
captivity to
them.
other
moved
Jacob,
seed of
of
any Jacob: for I
were always aware of a world
heads
could stir
away the
take
beyond things
according
their reach that sparkled over slept.
to
its
Its
own
vastness
and
paths, and
un-
no man
course.
Job
have been banal unless Job were being face those well-known, everyday facts in a way in which no man ever had. If Job is to step beyond the limits of man, and into the realm of his question to
would
asked to
brotherhood
with the Jackal, as he will surely do in the chapters which follow, banal facts, and others, must be faced again. In the Book of Genesis, the sun, moon, and stars were to be regarded as little more than the servants of man, given to him by an all-loving God "to separate the day from the night"; and "to be for signs and for seasons and for days and
those
years."
But Job is
The Mazzaroth
being
faced
comes out
with
Heaven."
something called "the Laws of the in its own time, indifferent to good times and
to bad
327
The Book of Job times, to times
of war, and to
an
cold
unbearably
times of
To
peace.
indifference in the
that
some
would
have
signified
to human affairs. Not to see it as
stars
twinkling for us, but to allow it to twinkle for itself was Job's first lesson. 28. Job must be prepared not only for a world whose inhabitants have ends and ways of
sudden as
their own unrelated to man. There will also be those that strike of a
if they had intention
without purpose and were
ready to go, but took
no aim.
The full force
felt
by
which
reminding
inheres in the
ourselves of the conditions under which
And it
Gen. 22: 1
came
Abraham,
And Isaac
wood:
but
he
so that
unto
him, My
And he Here
could not
And Israel
And unto
when
him
said, I
I
and
and
heaven,
and
eldest
father:
eyes were
son, and am
said
I.
he said,
and
in
me
a
dream,
saying, Jacob:
thy brethren feed
not
thee unto them.
And he
the
flock in
said to
him,
Israel in the
visions of
he turned
bush,
and
called
Samuel:
lie down
not;
and
said, Here am
and
and
that the
Then Eli
am
Behold, Here before his
called
again.
thou
And he
calledst me.
went and
lay
am
I. And
And he
down. And
again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to
I; for
thou
said, Here
LORD had
called
answered, Here
God
Moses, Moses. And
he answered, Here
I; for
didst
call me.
called not, my son; lie down again. And the LORD called Samuel again
Eli,
aside to see,
said,
I.
am
said, Here am
perceived
the night, and said,
said, Here am I.
called yet
and went to
ISam. 12:3f.
will send
the LORD saw that
Eli,
called
LORD
Eli,
My
and said,
out of the midst of the
ran unto
the
out of
him, Behold, Here
said unto
Joseph, Do
said unto
That the LORD
he
him
see, he called Esau his
his father,
spake unto
he said, Here ISam. 3:4
called unto
he said, Here am I. when Isaac was old, and his
and
I.
am
Jacob, Jacob. And he Exod. 3:4
and the
offering?
I.
am
And God
Gen. 46: 2
burnt
a
thou, my son? of God spake unto
angel
Shechem? come,
Here
father:
who art
And I said, Here
Gen. 37:13
he
son: and
came unto
I;
am
And the
Gen. 31:11
LORD
My
and said,
And he said, Behold the fire
son.
came to pass, that
dim, Gen. 27:18
the
angel of
Abraham, Abraham:
And it
Gen. 27:1
ISam 3:16
he said, Behold, Here
and
Abraham his father,
I, my
am
is the lamb for
where
And the said,
ISam. 3:8
him, Abraham:
spake unto
he said, Here
and
Gen. 22: 1 1
to pass after these things, that God did tempt
and said unto
I.
am
Gen. 22:7
I,"
can only be been used: have they
translated "Here am
word
Samuel,
am
the third time.
I; for
called
the
and said,
And he answered, I
thou
didst
And he
call me.
arose
And Eli
child.
Samuel, my
son.
And he
I.
am
I:
witness against me
anointed: whose ox
have I
before the LORD,
taken? or whose ass
and
have I
Interpretation
328
taken? or whom
I
and
have I defrauded?
hand have I
whose
will restore
it
Here
am
And
2Sam. 1:7
son of
Ahitub. And he answered,
he looked behind him, he
when
answered
him,
am
am
I
I. And he an
saw
But if he thus say, I have let him do to
and called unto me.
me,
me, Who art thou?
said unto
Amalekite. And he
Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for me, because my life is yet whole in me. 2Sam. 15:26
or of
therewith?
I, my lord.
And I answered, Here And I
oppressed?
mine eyes
you.
And Saul said, Hear now, thou
ISam. 22:12
have I
whom
any bribe to blind
received
said unto me
anguish
is
delight in thee; behold, Here
no
again,
come upon
am
I,
him.
me as seemeth good unto
29. The meaning of the text is obscure. Greenberg translates: "Who put The Re in the hidden parts? Who gave understanding to the mind?"
wisdom
Standard translates: "Who
vised
in the
put wisdom
standing to the mist? King James translates: "Who Who gave understanding to the
clouds?
or given
under
in the inward
put wisdom
heart?"
parts?
The first
problem
is
b'tuhor*. It is
with the word
word that appears only once in the whole of the known
is
quite sure what
it
All
means.
"overspread,"
overlay,"
"to
"in."
So far
means
vocalic mode of the tu. so we
have
come
to see
the u might
I
as
Is it
be
dope it out, the
to the
the Revised
"covering"
thing, but
with a
"covered"
in Psalm 51:8 (RS 51:6), translates: "thou desirest truth in the inward ther,
we must
This time The
look
we
at the other problematic
do have
a true
Semitic root skh or skh
what a watchman
hopax
in Aramaic
does. In Syriac it
surrounds
For
part of
"to
"to
means
root?
If
thing. In
dealing
fact,
the
Revised Standard
push the argument
fur
fshichwai.
word,
legominon; means
the
we are not
where even the
To
the w-type
to be a cloud. But
"hidden"
being."
be
reasons which we will
or
word also appears
root twh
and that the
instead. In that case,
with a
from the
"coverer"
Standard takes the
and no one
secure,"
had been
act of covering.
a sign of the passive
literature)
comes
problem
a shred of the w which
a noun related
later,
it
seem to agree that
etc., rather from tbh, "to
can
hopax legominon
almost a
(a
and so we must go
fishing.
watch,"
in the
hope,"
and
doing
sense of
in Arabic "to
com
plain."
In not
connection with this sense of
been
able
tion of tahot as
another
would account
for
in the
ularly interesting took it as rhetorically part of
is
a
tradition
which
I have
"mist."
This, I
presume, is
what
led to the transla
"cloud."
Gersonides has
As
there
to track down that relates it to a celestial appearance. Hence the
Revised Standard translates:
This
"watching,"
tradition which relates it
such
translations
or
"heart."
James translators, to "inward
case of the
parallel
as
more to the act of seeing.
"mind"
King
since
This is
partic
they obviously
part."
this argument, there is another and more common word
from the
The Book of Job same
root, maskit,
means a
The
"carved
relation
for the Book 30. If Job these
of
which can
or an
between inner
"imagination,"
mean
but
which more often
"image"; hence my translation. and outward
intelligibility is,
of
course,
central
Job.
can gird
fearful forces,
seemed at war.
indeed
figure"
329
his loins
all
and stand
before
in delicate balance,
all
these
each a part of
things, he
will see
that with which it